The Three Minute Deal
by AliciaLily
Summary: The best deals can be made in three minutes or less. Nancy/Frank pairing.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here it is the third part in my little series! I know I said I would post this by yesterday…but I ended up spending the entire day with my grandparents…so alas, there was not much time for fan fiction. :) Anyway, for those of you who haven't read Second Chances…don't worry, this isn't a continuation of that story so you should be able to follow it just fine. There are a few references to Second Chances and OC's from that story, but otherwise it's a completely different story. Joe and Vanessa are engaged….Frank and Nancy are dating…and that's really all you need to know!

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

**The Three Minute Deal  
****  
Chapter 1**

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," announced the minister amidst laughter and clapping from the audience.

The groom leaned down and kissed his blushing bride with all the fervor of love. The happy bride looked up at her husband and grinned, "I am the luckiest man in the world," the groom whispered quietly.

"It's true, you are," the bride smiled and kissed her husband again and then broke away, "but that makes me the luckiest woman."

"It is my honor to present, for the second time," the minister said, "Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Shoemaker!"

As Bernie and Mary Anne walked back down the aisle together grinning foolishly at each other the audience stood and clapped. Nancy smiled at Frank as he stood with Joe and the Shoemaker's son Robert. Frank looked so handsome in his suit, the ocean breeze ruffling through his hair.

Mary Anne had planned her vow renewal to Bernie to be an intimate gathering of close friends on the Big Island of Hawaii. Everyone had gathered together for a fun filled weekend away and to celebrate Mary Anne and Bernie's love for each other.

The music that signaled it was time for the wedding party to make their own way down the aisle began to play and Nancy smiled as Robert picked up his daughter, who had been the flower girl, and swung her laughing into his arms and walked down the aisle after his parents.

Nancy grinned at Frank and hooked her arm through his as he came forward to escort her down the shell lined aisle. Mary Anne had opted for a beach wedding where everyone was required to go barefoot so they could 'feel that wonderful sand between their toes'. Nancy's pale yellow dress fluttered in the wind and matched Frank's tie perfectly.

Joe followed behind Nancy and Frank with Vanessa on his arm. Mary Anne and Vanessa had bonded beautifully over their shared obsession of planning their weddings. It hadn't taken long before Mary Anne asked Vanessa to be one of her bridesmaids.

Frank and Nancy walked hand in hand down the beach to the hotel everyone was staying at and where the reception was being held. Soon all of the wedding guests were mingling and talking outside on the patio. Robert and his daughter, Vanessa and Joe and Nancy and Frank shared a table as they watched Bernie and Mary Anne dance their special dance.

"They are so in love," Vanessa sighed.

"You have wonderful parents," Nancy said smiling at Robert.

"They're not my parents," chimed Robert's daughter Ashley, "they're my grandparents," she announced this proudly as she popped a strawberry in her mouth.

"You're exactly right," Nancy said nodding, "my mistake."

"This is my dad," Ashley said pointing at Robert, "my mom is with the angels." She gave Nancy a toothy smile and licked her fingers, "she's watching us, but we can't see her."

Nancy smiled at the little girl and used her napkin to wipe the girls chin, "that's very true."

"My daddy says so," the girl replied simply.

"Jennifer died last year," Robert said in explanation and ran his hand over his daughter's golden head. "Cancer," he said in way of explanation.

"I'm so sorry," Vanessa said sincerely.

"We had a lot of time to prepare for it," Robert said smiling sadly. He chuckled, "we're at my parents wedding…I never thought I'd say that…let's not talk about things like that. I heard you two stole some of my clothing," he said to Joe and Frank.

Frank flushed, "we meant to return them but…"

"We're sorry, we got really busy with new cases and the trial and everything," Joe hastened to explain.

Robert laughed, "Its okay. I have too many sweaters as it is. Besides, from the pictures my mom showed me you two look better in argyle than I ever will. Now, the trial you're talking about? Is that the Giamatti/Krieger case? My firm worked on that, I was bummed when I couldn't take it on myself, my caseload was already too heavy."

"Yeah," Frank said and leaned forward. Soon the three men were immersed in going over every detail of the case and the trial that followed. Nancy looked at Ashley who was busily shredding her napkin, obviously bored. One look at Vanessa and Nancy knew that Vanessa was on the verge of shredding napkins herself. Nancy wanted to join in the conversation but decided to take pity on Vanessa and Ashley. Besides, she knew how the trial had turned out: Giamatti and Krieger had both been given the maximum sentence for a plethora of crimes and were currently serving out their time in the highest security prison in the country. The combined testimonies of Nancy, Joe, Frank and all of their family and friends had served to put the pair away for good.

"Come on ladies," Nancy said standing up, "it's obvious our men won't be asking us to dance for awhile. Who needs them?" she said with a grin and held out her hand for Ashley's. The little girl giggled and followed Vanessa and Nancy out onto the dance floor.

The three held hands and laughed as they moved to the music, Ashley amusing them with her creative dance moves. Frank looked over Robert's shoulder at Nancy who was currently being taught one of those dance moves by Ashley; Vanessa was on her other side trying to learn too. Frank smiled when Nancy laughed and swung Ashley around in the air, _'she'll make a great mom some day,'_ he thought to himself. His face fell in horror when he realized what he had just thought.

"Frank? Frank, you okay?" Joe sounded concerned.

Frank shook his head, "yeah, yeah I'm fine," he tried to smile. _'As much as I love Nancy and as amazing as the last six months have been I don't think I'm ready to get married and have children.'_

"You look like you've seen a ghost, man," Robert said clapping Frank on the shoulder, "you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, totally fine. Just…thought of something," he lifted his drink to his lips and took a desperate gulp, _'has all of this wedding talk gotten Nancy thinking about a wedding of her own?'_ Frank furrowed his brow and thought about his time with Nancy over the last couple of months. Nothing they had done together or said had indicated that Nancy was in any way thinking about marriage. With that thought he started to calm himself down. He knew that marriage was definitely in their future but he also knew that Nancy was focused on her career right now. Wasn't she?

* * *

On the plane ride home the next day Nancy settled herself into her seat and pulled out her book. Frank pulled down his dinner tray and set up his laptop. "I hope Mary Anne and Bernie have a good time on their cruise," Nancy said and flipped to the page she had left off on.

"I'm sure they will," Frank replied and booted up his computer.

"I'm kind of sad to leave," Nancy said and stared out the window at the palm trees in the distance. "It was sort of fun to not have to worry about a case or work."

"I know what you mean," Frank said with a smile, "back to reality."

"That's alright. I happen to love our reality," Nancy smiled and gave Frank a quick kiss before turning to her book.

Joe leaned across the aisle toward Frank, "Hey Frank…?"

"No," Frank said.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!" Joe said indignantly.

"Yes I do," Frank replied staring at his computer screen.

"Well, what was I going to ask?" Joe demanded.

"You were going to ask if you could use my computer to play solitaire," Frank replied simply. Nancy stifled a laugh in the chair next to him. When Joe didn't respond Frank turned and smiled at his brother, "well? Weren't you?"

"Yes," Joe mumbled and leaned back in his seat, "what are you doing on vacation with your laptop anyway?"

"Important work that you don't know anything about," Frank replied.

'_Attention passengers this is your Captain speaking, thank you for choosing to fly with Air Taxi. We'll be flying non-stop to Dallas from the lovely island of Hawaii. Please remain seated with your seatbelts on until the seatbelt light has been turned off. My name is Captain Andrews, thank you for flying with me today. The in flight movie will be _Batman Begins. _Enjoy.'_

"Excellent!" Joe cried and reached for his headphones.

"He has the attention span of a pea," Frank mumbled.

"You're not really working, are you?" Nancy asked Frank. Saying nothing Frank turned his computer in Nancy's direction. She laughed, there on screen was a half finished game of solitaire. "You're bad," she said.

"Hey, it's my computer," Frank said with a shrug. A few minutes later Nancy set her book on her lap and turned in her seat to stare at Frank, "why are you staring at me?" Frank said nervously.

"On a scale of one to ten, how happy and obliging are you feeling right now?" Nancy asked.

"Well, I just lost this game of Minesweeper so I'd say I'm about a 9.8," Frank answered.

"Good, because there's something I've been wanting to ask you for awhile," Nancy pushed the laptop screen down so she could have Frank's full attention. "Frank," she said seriously.

"Yes," Frank said in a mock serious tone.

"Frank, will you go to my family reunion with me?" Nancy said quickly.

"What?" Frank said clearly surprised.

Nancy rushed on, "it's in California at the end of August and I really,_ really_ don't want to go by myself _again_ and this year I actually have a boyfriend and I'd really like it if I could sort of…you know, show you off to all of my cousins and aunts and uncles and things who think I'm a total loser because I haven't been with someone in years and…"

"Take a breath, Nancy," Frank said smiling.

"Well, will you go?" Nancy demanded.

"When is it again?" Frank asked.

"It starts on the nineteenth of August," Nancy replied.

"And where is it?"

"California, at my aunt's _huge_ house in Orange County, they have a pool," she said enticingly.

"You want me to go to a family reunion for a weekend full of hanging out with people I don't know?" Frank asked skeptically.

"You just finished doing that!" Nancy cried.

"Not really, I knew about seventy-five percent of the guests," Frank said with a smile.

"Fine," Nancy crossed her arms.

"So, it's just a weekend, right?" Frank asked.

"Well, not exactly…it's more like a week," Frank groaned, "you promised you'd take me to California!"

"When did I promise you that?" Frank asked in surprise.

"When you were carrying me out of the woods after capturing Krieger," Nancy reminded him.

"You remember that?" Frank asked incredulously, "I can't believe you remember that."

"Well, you promised," Nancy reminded him.

"When I made that promise I was thinking more along the lines of a romantic weekend away," Frank grumbled. When Nancy rolled her eyes Frank laughed, "of course I'll go with you to your family reunion." Frank leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.

"Thank you, Frank," Nancy smiled, "you're in for a treat."

The way she said it had Frank raising his eyebrows, "what do you mean?" Frank asked sounding worried. When Nancy simply smiled Frank grew _really _concerned, "Nancy, what do you mean?" he repeated.

"My family is…a bit…eccentric," Nancy replied studying her book.

"But your dad is normal enough," Frank frowned.

"Yes, dad is the normal one. You either have a family of nuts with one normal member or a family of normal people with one nut. It's how the universe works, Hardy," Nancy smiled and squeezed Frank's hand. "You'll be fine."

"If I'm not, I'm going to send Joe after you," Frank replied.

"Deal," Nancy gave Frank a quick thank-you kiss and glanced at her watch. "Yes!" she said triumphantly.

"What?"

"It took under three minutes to get you to agree to go to my family reunion," Nancy replied.

"Okay…" Frank said clearly confused. "Explain?"

"You'll learn more about it at the family reunion," Nancy said mysteriously, "it's just a game we play in my family."

"How come I've never seen you play it before?" Frank asked.

"I don't normally, it's kind of a stupid game, but I figured I should get some practice in before the reunion. Also, I made a bet with my cousin…anyway, it will all be explained to you when you meet my family," Nancy returned to reading her book.

"But what…" Frank started to ask.

"Shh," Nancy said with a smile, "I'm really into this book." Frank had no choice but to open his computer and resume playing his game of Minesweeper.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter…don't worry…the mystery will come into play soon. We're having a heat wave where I live (Seattle, so you can imagine us Seattleites freaking out about 90 degree heat. The SPF we usually use around here is RAIN). Anyway, the heat wave has completely sapped my creativity and made me all fuzzy in the head, so I have no idea if this chapter is any good or not. I apologize if it isn't and if it is okay, well then….what a happy accident!

Also, is anyone else having problems getting alerts for things from the site? It might just be me.

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 2**

"What time does our flight leave?" Joe asked as he jiggled his leg impatiently while sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs at the airport.

"The same time it did the last time you asked babe," Vanessa said absentmindedly and continued to read her bridal magazine. Joe and Vanessa were waiting with Nancy and Frank at the airport for their flight that would take them to Seattle and then on to Long Beach.

"Tell me again why you're here?" Frank said grumpily. It couldn't have been more apparent that Frank hadn't slept all that well last night and being at the airport at 5 in the morning wasn't really helping.

"Oh Frank," Joe said patting his brother's knee, "you're already losing your memory." Joe had been making cracks about Frank's age ever since his older brother had turned twenty-four. The problem was that Frank's birthday had been awhile ago, but Joe still couldn't resist giving his brother a hard time.

Nancy laughed and kissed Frank's cheek reassuringly, "don't worry honey, I'm right behind you."

When Vanessa heard that Nancy and Frank were taking another vacation at the end of August she immediately took it upon herself to plan a vacation for herself and Joe. Nancy had gotten into the spirit of the thing and was soon helping Vanessa plan a lovely relaxing weekend away for herself, Frank, Joe and Vanessa. The plan was for Frank and Nancy to make an appearance at her family reunion and then join Joe and Vanessa at the rental house for a "de-stresser" as Nancy had put it.

"Why aren't we on the same flight?" Joe asked Nancy.

"My father booked the flights for us, so he picked the flight that had us change planes in Chicago. That way we can meet up with him there." Nancy explained "he said that there was absolutely no way he was going to meet Uncle Bear at the airport alone." Nancy chuckled.

"Uncle Bear?" Vanessa was momentarily torn away from her magazine to fix Nancy with a laughing stare, "is that really his name?"

"Well, no. It's Gary…but he's called the Bear because of his…girth," Nancy smiled. "We'll show you pictures."

'_Air Taxi, flight 327 nonstop to Seattle is now boarding.'_

"That's us," Joe grabbed his carry on and pulled Vanessa to her feet. Frank stood and gave his brother a hug, "see you in four days, bro."

"Pray for me," Frank pleaded and Joe laughed. Nancy and Vanessa hugged goodbye and Frank and Nancy sat down again as they watched the couple walk off hand in hand.

"It won't be that bad," Nancy said with a smile, "I'm sure my family will love you. They're just a bit eccentric and I apologize in advance if anyone grabs your butt."

"What?" Frank practically fell out of his chair. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, my Aunt Marlene has an attraction to men with nice…rear ends," Nancy smiled at Frank, "and you happen to have a very nice rear end. Although, I don't think you'll have too much trouble with Marlene. It's Uncle Bob you're going to have to worry about the most."

Frank groaned and slumped down in his chair. He buried his face in Nancy's shoulder and his voice came out muffled and tortured, "she's just trying to scare me, she's just trying to scare me," he muttered over and over.

"Don't worry, I'll be there and so will my father and my grandparents happen to be the most normal, elegant people you'll ever meet. We'll protect you." Nancy ran her hand over Frank's hair and sighed, "Besides, I'm very protective of my man and I'm a specially trained agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I know several different types of self defense, I'll protect you."

Frank laughed and lifted his head up to smile at Nancy, "promise?"

"Promise," Nancy said with a smile and Frank leaned in to give her a kiss.

"I can't get over the fact that I get to kiss Nancy Drew," Frank said with a smile. "I'm pretty darn lucky."

"So they say, Hardy, so they say," Nancy replied with a smile of her own. The announcement over the loudspeaker told them that their flight was boarding and so they stood up to join the line. "Get ready for a long day."

"How long will all of this take?" Frank asked.

"Oh, like…12 hours." Nancy replied nonchalantly.

"TWELVE hours?" Frank said incredulously.

"You know, for a detective you're not so quick on the uptake," Nancy said smoothly and handed her ticket to the lady at the desk. "It takes two hours to get to Chicago; we have a nice little layover time and then the flight to California. Not to mention there's a time difference…we should probably sleep while we can on the flight."

"Don't worry about that, I'm going to sleep like a baby," Frank muttered and followed Nancy down the walkway to the plane.

They found their seats and Frank stored their carryon luggage in the overhead bins and took his seat next to Nancy. Nancy pulled a magazine out of her purse and flipped it open to a page she had marked; Frank glanced at the front of the magazine and froze. It was a bridal magazine.

Frank felt the space in the plane's cabin become much smaller and the air much more difficult to breathe. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and cleared his throat, trying to sound completely normal, "uh, what's that?" he asked Nancy.

Completely oblivious to Frank's slight meltdown Nancy replied absently, "oh, just a magazine." She flipped the page and gasped, "oh Frank! Look at this, isn't it gorgeous?" she turned the magazine towards him but all Frank could see was a blur of red and white and there might have been some flowers involved.

"Yes, that's very nice," he said, "why are you reading that?"

"Oh, I'm helping Vanessa with some of the wedding details," Nancy replied, "Callie is her Maid of Honor but she's in California so she's not around that much. I offered to help with some of the planning as the Runner Up Maid of Honor."

"What's the Runner Up Maid of Honor?" Frank asked.

"I have no idea," Nancy laughed and turned the page again, "oh, now _this_ is perfect. Oh, it's so beautiful." She turned the magazine back to Frank with a smile, "isn't this flower girl dress adorable?"

"Yeah," Frank agreed weakly, "adorable." Why was he reacting this way? He loved Nancy and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, so why was he getting all sweaty at the idea of Nancy wanting to get married? _'Because you're not ready to get married yet, Hardy'_ Frank thought to himself. _'And why aren't you? You know you love Nancy, why _aren't_ you ready to get married yet?'_

"Frank?" Nancy was looking at him quizzically. "Anyone home?" she teased and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, I was spacing out," Frank tried for a smile. It must have worked because Nancy smiled back and returned to reading her magazine. _'Who would have guessed the day would come when I stressed out about getting married and Joe was walking into it with no problems,'_ Frank thought to himself with a smile.

He was just tired, he decided and so leaned his chair back, "I'm going to try and sleep a little before Chicago," he said to Nancy.

"Alright," Nancy smiled and dimmed her overhead light, "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…all of those things."

"Yeah, yeah…" Frank said with a smile and was asleep in minutes.

* * *

"Uncle Bob!" Nancy cried and gave the man in front of her a hug, "how are you?"

"I'm good," Bob smiled and smoothed out his hair. Bob was a man of few changes. He had kept the same hairstyle since he was nineteen; he rarely wore anything but jeans and a collared cotton shirt and always, _always_ had a pack of Camels in the front chest pocket of his shirt. "How are you?"

"I'm great," Nancy replied and pulled Frank forward, "and this is Frank."

"Frank is it? I once had a buddy in Chicago named Frank," Bob shook Frank's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Frank."

"You too," Frank said with a smile.

"Where's Charlie?" Nancy asked. That was another thing that rarely changed with Uncle Bob; he had been with the same partner for sixteen years. Charlie was almost the mirror image of Bob, collared shirt, relaxed haircut and a pack of Camels in his front pocket.

"Oh, he'll be along shortly. He had some business to take care of," Bob replied. Uncle Bob and Uncle Charlie raised Welsh Springer Spaniels, but Bob couldn't help but make it sound like it was some top secret government operation. "Come, come in the house, everyone is waiting for you," Bob ushered them up the ornate front steps of Nancy's Aunt Marlene's house.

"This place is huge!" Frank said under his breath.

"I know, it's a bit over the top for one woman and her daughter," Nancy replied.

"Only two people live here?" Frank whispered.

"Yep," Nancy replied.

"Where's your father?" Bob called over his shoulder.

"Oh, he's coming. He and Uncle Bear went to the store," Nancy replied. They reached the double front doors and Bob pushed one of them open. Frank had a hard time keeping his mouth closed, the front entrance way could have easily been filled up by his entire apartment. There was a sweeping staircase on either side of the foyer that led to the upstairs. Multiple doorways led in multiple directions and Frank found that he felt extremely uncomfortable in his new plush surroundings.

"Well," Nancy said staring, "this is certainly, big."

"You haven't seen Marlene's new house yet?" Bob asked, "Oh that's right, you're a big important FBI Agent now who doesn't have time for her family anymore," Bob said teasing.

"Something like that," Nancy smiled and looked at Frank. "This is huge," she whispered.

"Too huge," Frank whispered. Nancy grabbed his hand and they followed Bob down one of the entranceways that led through a sitting room and then onto a back patio. The backyard was just as large and magnificent as the entryway. Frank got a glimpse of the biggest pool he had ever seen before he was surrounded by Nancy's family.

Introductions went by in a blur of names and faces and delighted squeals. Frank lost track of everyone's names and at the end of it all realized that the only person whose name he could remember was Bob's.

"Let me show you to your rooms," the woman who spoke was Marlene, Frank thought, which made sense if she was going to show them their room. She waltzed past them in a cloud of strong floral perfume and Nancy and Frank followed.

After a series of complicated twists and turns and back staircases they finally found themselves in a long hallway, "your room is this one," Marlene announced proudly and pushed open a door. "Your father's is down the hall on the left, I figured you'd want as much space between you and your father when you get down to your nighttime activities," she winked at Frank and made an obvious display of checking him out, "which I don't blame you in the least for doing, he is a dish."

"Um, thank you Aunt Marlene. We're just going to unpack and I'd like to change out of these clothes and we'll be right down," Nancy smiled and escorted her aunt to the door of the bedroom.

"Can you find your way?" Marlene asked, still staring at Frank.

"We're detectives, I think we'll figure it out," Nancy said still smiling and then shut the door firmly on her aunt. "Oh my."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Frank said and took a look around their room. It was enormous, easily the size of his living room, dining room and kitchen put together. He walked over to the sliding glass doors that led out onto the balcony and overlooked the pool and ocean beyond. Nancy came up next to him, "she could have just brought us up from the patio," she commented as she eyed the stairs leading right up to their balcony.

"Yeah," Frank said "this might sound rude, but I think she wanted to show us as much of the house as possible."

"Oh yeah, that's totally Aunt Marlene," Nancy said nodding. She went over to the closet and groaned, "The guest bedroom has a walk in closet, what kind of a guest bedroom has a walk in closet?"

Nancy quickly changed out of her jeans and t-shirt and into a summer dress. "That's new," Frank commented eyeing the white dress with brown polka dots.

Nancy smiled and slipped on her sandals, "that's because it is." She leaned up and gave Frank a kiss, "and I love that you noticed."

"You look great," Frank replied and they walked out onto the terrace together.

"Now," Nancy began as they walked down the steps, "stay close to me. Don't let them separate us."

"Oh man," Frank groaned and Nancy grabbed his hand. They descended the staircase and were once again engulfed in Nancy's large extended family.

Frank felt that he did pretty well learning people's names and keeping up with the rapid fire questions. They passed the rest of the day away in the shade drinking and then eating the dinner that was brought out to them. Uncle Bear was currently doing his interpretation of the Macarena. Frank was pretty sure he had consumed more than his share of alcohol as the man started to slur his words and sing the Macarena song along with his dance.

"Bear! Sit down! We have an unknown in our company!" Bear's wife Pat cried from her seat, "He's not ready to see that side of us yet!"

But Bear ignored his wife and continued his flailing dance, getting closer and closer to the edge of the pool, "He-e-e-e-e-e-y Macarena! HIYA!" Bear cried and with a flamboyant turn went crashing into the pool.

"Idiot," his wife muttered.

Everyone watched and waited for Bear to surface and when after a few moments there was nothing, the group exchanged worried glances. Nancy's cousin Adam ran over to the pool's edge and looked in. "He's too drunk to get out!" he yelled back to the group.

A few of Nancy's cousins and her Uncle Bob went forward to try and help the massive Bear out of the pool. Marlene leaned over and said, "I bet they can get Bear out of there in three minutes or less."

"Three Minute Deal?" Nancy asked.

"You bet," Marlene held out her hand to shake.

"You're on, but you're going to lose. Uncle Bear is a large man who has consumed a lot of alcohol. It's going to take awhile to get him out of there," Nancy shook her aunt's hand. Just as she finished her bet her cousin Adam fell in the water after trying to hoist Bear to the surface. "Look at that, our first casualty."

"What's this three minute deal thing?" Frank asked from Nancy's other side.

Marlene spared a glance from the comic scene playing out before them and fixed a stare at Nancy, "you haven't explained to him the rules of the Three Minute Deal?"

"No," Nancy replied.

"You wait, as soon as I win I'll explain it to you," Marlene glanced at her watch and sighed, "come on, come on. Two minutes!"

"It looks like you're going to lose Aunt Marlene," Nancy said teasing and watched as Adam pulled himself out of the pool.

"No…there's still thirty seconds left," Marlene muttered. She watched as the second hand hit the twelve and then groaned, "Man, I thought I had it."

"Yay, bragging rights!" Nancy cried and then shouted to her cousin, "can't he just use the stairs to get out?"

Adam looked at her in confusion for a moment and then looked over at the opposite side of the pool where the stairs were leading out of the shallow end. With much laughter and cursing the group got drunk Uncle Bear out of the pool.

"So, the Three Minute Deal," Marlene began and took a sip of her drink. "It started with my grandfather. Grandpa always said that the best deals are the ones you can make in three minutes or less. He built an empire on that idea alone. Any business deal he was able to make and close in three minutes he would do and anything that took longer he didn't. Same went with first impressions. If he didn't like you in three minutes, you were out of there. The game has kind of evolved over time to not just business dealings, but general bets and mayhem. It's a fun game."

"Nancy told me that she had made a bet with her cousin about getting me to agree to come out here for this," Frank said.

"Yes and her cousin lost," Marlene smiled.

"Lost what?" Frank asked.

"We don't always bet something," Nancy explained, "but my cousin is down ten bucks."

"You only bet ten dollars?" Frank asked amazed, "wow, and here I was thinking that I was worth more than that."

Frank became more at ease with Nancy's family as the night wore on and soon the sun had sunk below the horizon and the moon had come out. "So," said Uncle Bear who had come out of his stupor long enough to join the conversation, "how long have you two been dating?"

"Close to eight months," Frank replied.

"Eight months?" Marlene asked and gestured wildly in the air, "Why aren't you guys married yet?"

Frank frowned and Nancy smiled and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Frank and I are…" she began but her Aunt Pat interrupted her.

"Eight months isn't that long Marlene, not when you're talking about forever," Pat hiccupped softly.

"Eight months is _forever_ man!" Adam piped up, "I dated a girl for six months and thought I was going to pass out from boredom. I don't know how you do it," he said to Frank his voice sincere.

"I just think that it's high time you asked that girl to marry you," Marlene said and raised her glass.

"Leave the girl and her boy alone," Bob piped up from his corner where he was smoking his cigarette and holding Charlie's hand.

"I agree with my brother," Carson said and shot Nancy a smile, "she's much too young to be talking about marriage."

"Thanks Dad," Nancy said with a grateful smile. Nancy couldn't help but notice how silent Frank had suddenly gotten. "Well, on that note. I think it's time for me to say goodnight." She stood up and stretched. "Do you want to stay down here for awhile?" she asked Frank.

"No," Frank replied a little too quickly and her family laughed. "I mean, no I'm tired too."

"I'm tired too' is that code for 'let's get it on'?" Marlene mused.

"Yeah you two, who are you fooling?" Adam piped up.

"Good night family," Nancy said and turned and pulled Frank up the stairs with her. "How embarrassing!" she cried as soon as they were inside their room. "I'm so sorry, my family is nuts."

"I kind of like them," Frank said absently and began changing for bed.

"You do?" Nancy paused in getting changed herself.

"Yeah, they're quirky and don't care who knows it," Frank replied and pulled back the covers of the big King size bed.

"Hm," was all Nancy said as she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. "Well, you haven't met the entire family yet, wait until the rest of them get here in the morning." Nancy called from the bathroom.

Frank stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched as Nancy washed her face. "There are more?"

"Yep, you still have to meet my cousin Alicia, my grandparents and my uncle Chuck and his brood," Nancy replied with a grin and Frank playfully elbowed her out of the way so he could brush his teeth.

"You sure are a bathroom hog," he complained and smiled at her in the bathroom mirror.

"Have you seen the size of this bathroom? I don't think that's much of a problem," Nancy said with a grin and laid her washcloth over the towel rack.

A few minutes later and Nancy and Frank climbed into bed and laid down facing each other, "wow, we sure do have our routine down, don't we?" Nancy smiled when Frank put his cold feet on hers.

"What do you mean?" Frank asked.

"I don't know, at the beginning of our relationship we wouldn't have undressed _ourselves_ for bed and we wouldn't have gotten into the bed on opposite sides." Nancy smiled.

"Do you think that's a bad thing?" Frank asked with a frown.

"No," Nancy replied quickly. "I like that we're comfortable enough with each other now."

"Except your family is down there thinking we're screwing like rabbits," Frank laughed.

"I like to prove them wrong every once and awhile," Nancy adjusted her pillow a little and sighed in contentment.

"Oh yeah?" Frank said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Nancy replied warily.

"Three Minute Deal?" Frank asked.

"On what?"

"On this," Frank pulled Nancy on top of him and gripped his hands on her waist. "Three minutes says I have you forgetting all about your family."

"I'll take that bet," Nancy replied and held out her hand to shake on it. She laughed when Frank grasped it and used it to yank her down into a passionate kiss.

* * *

**For those of you who don't know…I like to use instances from real life in my stories. I really do have an Uncle Bear and an Aunt Pat…and my gay Uncle Bob and his partner. And yes, at a family reunion Uncle Bear did almost drown himself in the pool. He also almost boiled himself to death in the hot tub. Needless to say, he was cut off on the alcohol for awhile. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I won't be telling you which parts of this story are fiction or taken from my own life…you'll have to use your imagination. :) Just know that _yes_ some of those things have _actually _happened to either me or The Boy. :) Once again, thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and for reading this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Diamond and Stars: Happy Early Birthday! ;)

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 3**

Frank huddled in one of the many bathrooms inside the Marlene Mansion, as he had taken to calling it and pulled out his cell phone. He glanced furtively at the closed and locked door while he waited for his call to be answered.

"Come on, pick up," Frank muttered as he paced the large room impatiently.

"Hello?"

"Joe!" Frank sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you answered."

"Where are you? You sound all echo-y." Joe replied.

"I don't really know. I'm in a bathroom on the first floor of Nancy's Aunt's house somewhere," Frank glanced out the window and saw the backyard. At least he now knew that he was in the back half of the house on the first floor.

"How can you not know where you are?" Joe sounded puzzled.

"Because this house is _huge_ Joe, I mean it, it's not natural. There are homeless people everywhere and Nancy's aunt and her daughter live in this house that has its own zip code," Frank stood still when he heard a noise from outside, not wanting anyone to hear him.

"Nice," Joe said appreciatively, "alright, second and probably most important question, what the heck are you doing in a bathroom talking to me on the phone?"

"Yesterday was fine because we all went to Disneyland," Frank began, "and Nancy and I spent part of the day with her father and grandparents and the rest of the day we got to go off by ourselves. It's day three now and I really, _really_ want to go back to Disneyland."

"Huh?" Joe asked.

"I mean, yesterday was fine because we didn't actually have to spend it with her family. Nancy and I had a great time together…but today, they've separated us Joe," Frank whispered.

"Um…I'm sorry?" Joe said unsure of the proper response and not sure what his brother wanted to hear.

"You don't understand! Nancy warned me not to let them separate us, but her cousin dragged her off to show her the dress she bought for some party and I haven't seen her since. That was two hours ago!" Frank peered out the window.

"You sound like you're under siege," Joe laughed "Are they that bad?"

"Well, her Aunt Marlene keeps checking me out and making excuses to touch me and come to think of it, so does her Uncle Bob and her Aunt Pat keeps telling me I need to put some fat on my bones because no girl wants to grab onto a skeleton, which makes sense because her husband is the size of a Mack truck. Her Uncle Chuck has been trying to get me to look at his forehead where his doctor removed his skin cancer. No matter how many times I tell him I'm a detective not a doctor he always seems to forget," Frank sighed and Joe laughed loudly, "I need Nancy. As soon as she left they started asking me about when I was going to marry Nancy and why I hadn't asked her to marry me yet."

"Those are good questions, I was wondering the same thing myself," Joe said thoughtfully.

Frank groaned, "not you too."

"Well, I think it's a legitimate question Frank. You love her right?" Joe asked.

"Of course, more than anything in the world, I just…" Frank trailed off.

"Just what? If you love her, you love her bro, there isn't much else to it," Joe said simply.

Frank smiled; he knew that his instinct to call his brother had been the right one. "Joe, I love Nancy and I know she loves me but we've never talked about marriage before. Well, we did once, way back at the beginning in those crazy weeks following the arrest of Krieger…we were so high on finally catching him and our new relationship. She just said that her career was really important to her and she wanted to be established before she made any sort of commitment like that."

"Sounds like you should talk to her again, brother." Joe commented.

"You're right. But not now, while we're surrounded by her marriage crazy relatives," Frank rubbed a hand over his face, "but I'll talk to her about it when we get home."

"Atta boy!" Joe said happily "Glad I could be of help, now get your butt out of that bathroom, use your detective skills to find your girlfriend and then don't let her leave your sight, even if it means sitting through hours of pre-teen chatter about the 'like, totally awesome party tonight!'," Joe said adopting a valley-girl voice.

"It's scary how well you do that," Frank commented and Joe spluttered.

"Whatever, stop being such a scaredy-cat. I'm going to have so much fun telling the guys back home about you hiding in a bathroom to get away from Nancy's family," Joe laughed.

"You wouldn't."

"Frank, Frank, Frank," Joe laughed, "you know me better than that. Now, if you'll excuse me my girl just came in and she is looking _good_. See you tomorrow."

Frank shook his head and closed his phone. Walking across the room he laid his hand on the door handle and took a deep breath, _'here it goes'_; he thought to himself and opened the door cautiously. Poking just his head out into the hallway he glanced left then right to check if the coast was clear. Seeing no immediate danger he stepped out into the hallway.

Joe had suggested he use his detective skills to find Nancy and his gut was telling him she was still with her cousin looking at the dress. Figuring that most of the bedrooms were on the second floor Frank headed in that direction. He was halfway up a set of back stairs when he heard a door behind him opening and closing, "where is that doctor?" came Nancy's whiny Uncle Chuck's voice, "I think I might have some skin cancer on my back."

Not wanting to stick around any longer Frank took the rest of the steps two at a time and almost knocked over one of the maids, "I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, casting a furtive glance behind him, "where is Alicia's room?"

The woman pointed down the hall, "three doors down on the left," she said and turned to go down the stairs.

"Thank you," Frank said to her retreating back and counted three doors and knocked on the one on the left.

A few moments later Nancy pulled open the door and gave a cry of relief, "Oh, Frank! Is it that time already?"

Frank was confused, "What…" he began but Nancy cut him off.

"My how time flies when you're having fun, huh?" she said with a smile at her cousin, "Lovely dress Alicia, I'm sure Brad will go crazy. I'm sorry but Frank and I have a…thing." With that Nancy darted out of the room and closed the door behind her. She grabbed Frank's hand and didn't say a single word until they were safely locked in their bedroom.

"I am _so_ glad you showed up. I'm not usually the knight in shining armor complete with a steadfast white steed type of girl but before you arrived all I could think was 'please rescue me, Frank, please rescue me!' and then there you were," Nancy rushed forward and gave Frank a long, slow kiss, "it was the sexiest thing I have ever seen," she said pulling away.

"Really?" Frank asked amused.

"Well, over the last eight months I've seen my fare share of sexy things where you're concerned, but that just about did me in," Nancy smiled, "what made you come searching for me anyway?"

Frank told her all about her Aunt Marlene's (and Uncle Bob's) wandering hands, her Aunt Pat's obsession with getting him fattened up and her Uncle Chuck's insistence that Frank look at his cancer scars. Nancy's mouth slowly dropped open, "and then I just went and hid in the bathroom." Frank finished with a shrug.

"You what?" Nancy said starting to smile.

"Hey, don't you laugh at me too, Joe thought it was hilarious," Frank said and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Joe? You called Joe?" Nancy said and lifted her arms to Frank's shoulders.

"Seriously, don't start. They're _your_ family!" Frank said with a laugh and kissed Nancy's forehead. "I wouldn't have to hide in the bathroom if you had a normal family."

"That's true," Nancy said nodding her head. "You know what I was thinking as I was sitting there listening to my cousin go on and on and on about Brad and how he _might_ like her and if he doesn't she is just going to _die_ but if he does she's still going to die from the happiness of it all?"

Frank laughed, "No, what were you thinking about?"

"I just kept thinking, 'I want to go back to Disneyland'!" Nancy laughed and shook her head, "that sounds weird, but…"

Frank smiled, "not at all. Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Not that I want to go back to Disneyland for the rides or anything, but I enjoyed getting to spend so much time with you."

"My thoughts exactly," Nancy murmured and leaned in for another kiss. Frank began to back Nancy up toward the bed when a knock on the door stopped them. They both looked at each other, twin looks of dread on their faces before looking at the door. "Yes?" Nancy called, Frank's hands still gripping her waist.

"Nancy?" her Aunt Marlene called and opened the door. Upon seeing Frank and Nancy's embrace she didn't flush with embarrassment like most people would, instead she smirked. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're going to be meeting outside for swimming and games in about 15 minutes."

"Thanks Aunt Marlene," Nancy said and smiled.

"You swim, don't you Frank?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah," Frank replied.

"Good, I can't wait to see you in a pair of trunks," with a wink Marlene flounced out of the room.

Nancy stifled a laugh at Frank's horrified expression, "I don't think she's really serious," Nancy said with a smile, "I think she's probably joking. Maybe."

"Sure she is," Frank nodded and looked down at Nancy, "why are you smiling?"

"No reason," Nancy smirked.

Frank was about to retort when an awful thought struck him, "Does your Uncle Chuck swim?"

"Oh yes, he was captain of the swim team in High School and College," Nancy said with a nod, "why?"

"I heard him talking to someone about getting me to check out some spots on his back that might be skin cancer," Frank said with a groan, "can you _please_ try and get him to understand that I am _not_ a doctor?"

Nancy threw her head back and laughed. She leaned forward and gave Frank a quick kiss, "of course." She smiled and hugged him before pulling away, "if I didn't love you already, I'd love you for putting up with my crazy family. In fact, I think I love you more because of it." Nancy smiled and walked over to the closet, "now change into your swimming stuff honey, I can't wait to see you in a pair of trunks."

Frank let out a laugh that sounded more like a groan, this was going to be a very interesting afternoon.

* * *

"What do you think, Frank?" Carson said in a serious tone as he and Frank, along with Chuck and Bob stood on the second hole of the miniature golf course in Marlene's backyard. Frank had been shocked to find out that not only did they have the biggest pool of all time; they also had a full basketball court, a tennis court and a miniature golf course.

"I'd use the putter, sir," Frank replied just as serious, "and watch the middle of the green there, it slopes to the left."

"Good call, Frank," Carson agreed and lined his putter up with his bright red golf ball.

"Will you just hit the ball?" Chuck called from behind Frank and Carson, "this isn't rocket science."

"Don't bother me Chuck," Carson murmured, "I'm about to make par on this course."

Chuck laughed and folded his arms to watch his brother take the shot. Carson sunk it in one swing, "hole in one!" Frank cried and gave Carson a high five. Frank was surprised by how much fun he was having with Carson and his brothers. They had all swam in the pool for a while and after some initial awkwardness with Chuck and his back (Nancy finally set him straight about Frank's profession) they had passed an enjoyable couple of hours swimming and playing Marco Polo.

After awhile Carson had decided he wanted to play a game of miniature golf and soon Frank found himself teamed up with Carson against Chuck and Bob. Nancy was in sight lying next to the pool with her aunts and cousin. No matter how well the afternoon was going so far there was no way that Frank was going to let Nancy leave his sight from now until they arrived safely at the rental house tomorrow with Joe and Vanessa.

The smells of barbecue began to waft over to the group and Bob gave an appreciative sniff, "it's almost time for dinner," he commented and watched as Chuck lined up his shot.

"Marlene makes the best barbecue," Carson said and sniffed the air too.

"She cooks?" Frank asked incredulously. When the three brothers laughed Frank flushed, "I didn't mean for it to come out that way, I just…"

"Don't worry about it," Chuck said clapping Frank on the shoulder, "our Marlene likes to live the life she can afford, which is lavish obviously" he said with a sweep of his arm to indicate the house and yard, "but my brother is right, she sure can barbecue and insists on doing that herself."

The four men finished their round of miniature golf and locked the clubs back in the shed, "it was a noble attempt boys," Carson said to his brothers, "but you should have realized that Frank and I would clobber you."

Bob rolled his eyes, "you had the unfair advantage of youth on your side."

Nancy glanced up from her book when she heard the laughter coming from the side of the house. She was shocked to see Frank laughing with her father, Chuck and Bob. Frank came over and sat on the lounge chair next to Nancy, giving her a quick kiss, "did you have fun?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was a good time," Frank smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, your uncles aren't that bad when they're not checking me out or asking me to diagnose their cancer," Frank said with a shrug and took a sip of Nancy's water.

"I'm glad to hear it," Nancy returned Frank's smile and went back to reading her book.

"I'm hot now though," he said innocently.

"Then get in the pool," Nancy replied absentmindedly.

"Come with me," Frank said.

"No, I think I'll pass. I'm all dried off and would like to stay that way for dinner." Nancy pushed herself up when Frank grabbed her book out of her hands. "Hey!"

Frank just grinned and picked Nancy up out of her chair. Nancy screamed with laughter as Frank ran toward the edge of the pool and jumped in amidst the clapping and cheers from her family.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I just wanted to take a second to explain why I've made Frank a little iffy on the marriage front (remember, we still don't know how Nancy feels about all of this). In my head, Frank is pretty much the perfect man but he is still a _man._ Not every guy is ready to jump into time and all eternity with a girl they've been dating for eight months. I'm a big fan of getting to know a person, perhaps living with them first and a long engagement. I think it takes more than eight months to truly get to know someone's quirks. Do they like the toilet paper roll to feed from the top or the bottom? Are they sticklers about taking the trash out every day or just when it's full? Do they have a problem with the way you chew your food? :) It takes time to get to know someone and I think Frank is right to be a _little_ cautious.

Not that anyone was mad at me for making Frank that way…I just thought that I'd explain it a little. When I first started this story I was just planning on Frank maybe thinking about it once and moving on…but it's kind of blossomed into this whole thing. Thanks everyone for allowing me a little creative license with Frank's personality. :)

Thanks for all of the kind reviews and no, bookworm2009…I'm not done. I have a lot more in store for our favorite twosome and their counterparts. :) …evil laughter…

**Second Chances**

**Chapter 4**

"We had a great time," Nancy said to her Aunt Marlene and leaned in to kiss her cheek and give her a hug. Frank and Nancy were on their way out the door to go and join Joe and Vanessa at the rented beach house.

"I'm sorry to see you leave the party early," Marlene said with a smile and turned to Frank, "it was a pleasure meeting you…and of course, it was fun to tease you as well," she winked at Frank who laughed.

"Thank you for having us," Frank said.

They waved goodbye to the group while Carson and Bob helped them carry their things to the rental car. "I can't believe you're abandoning me here," Carson said to Nancy with a smile and put her suitcase in the trunk.

"You'll be fine," Nancy replied, "there's a bathroom on the first floor that you might find useful, at least Frank did."

Carson and Bob laughed, "We had you hiding in a bathroom?" Bob asked in amazement.

Frank turned bright red, "no…not really…"

"I can't believe it," Bob slapped a hand on his brother's shoulder, "we scared him!"

"Bob, you guys scare _me_ and I've known you my whole life," Carson smiled.

"Well, we'd better get going," Nancy hugged her uncle and then turned to hug her father.

"It was good to see you again, sir," Frank said and shook Carson's hand.

"Likewise," Carson smiled, "have fun you two."

"It was nice to meet you;" Frank said and shook Bob's hand."

"You too," Bob replied. Frank opened the car door for Nancy and then walked around to the driver's side. He had his hand on the car door handle when Bob called out, "Boy, I like you now…but one false step and you're toast. I may have a life partner but I still have contacts up in Chicago."

Frank laughed nervously and got into the car, "what did he mean by that?"

"What did he say?" Nancy asked as Frank turned the car on and put it in drive.

"Your uncle just told me that he still had contacts up in Chicago," Frank waved at the pair out the window and pulled out of the long driveway.

"I can't believe it," Nancy said laughing, "I can't believe he said that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Uncle Bob and Uncle Chuck ran with a tough crowd in their youth, this was before Uncle Bob realized he liked men. We don't really talk about it that much, but I've always thought that they were part of the mob," Nancy leaned forward and flipped on the air conditioning.

"The _mob_?" Frank said shocked, "the mob?"

"Yeah," Nancy replied with a shrug.

"You're in the FBI and one of your family members was in the mob?" he glanced at her, the shock written all over his face.

"Two, two members of my family _might_ have been in the mob," Nancy corrected.

"Oh okay then, two of them. That makes it better because I was worried that only one of your family members used to be a ruthless killer but now that I know two of them were that's okay. Yeah, that's fine," Frank nodded his head up and down frantically, "just fine. You're in the FBI, isn't there some sort of code of ethics or something where you need to turn them in?"

"Okay first off, I've always just _guessed_ that they were in the mob and second, if they were in the mob they were not ruthless killers. My Uncle Bob raises Welsh Springer Spaniels with his partner, does that sound like a ruthless killer to you? They were just teenagers in a messed up city. And no, I'm not worried about the FBI code of ethics because as far as I know they've never done anything wrong." Nancy laid her hand on Frank's knee and smiled at him, "it's more like family legend."

"Well, have you ever looked them up in the FBI database?" Frank asked, "Aren't you curious about it?"

"No, I've never looked them up in the FBI database because believe it or not, I actually have things I _do_ while I'm at work. I don't have time to Google my relatives," Nancy smiled at Frank, "but I'm sure that as soon as you can you're going to hack into the database yourself and see what you can find."

"You bet I am," Frank said nodding.

Nancy laughed and settled in for the short car ride up the coast to where Joe and Vanessa were waiting for them.

* * *

"This is nice," Joe said taking a drink of his Coke. He and Frank sat on the porch watching Vanessa and Nancy walk down the beach together.

Frank laughed, "You're bored out of your mind."

"SO bored," Joe nodded, "it's been five days, that's way too long for a vacation."

"I know what you mean; I don't think we've ever made it this far without a mystery interrupting a vacation." Frank took a sip of his own drink.

"Not even a _tiny_ mystery!" Joe cried in frustration. Frank and Joe were currently sitting on the porch of the rental house enjoying spending time together. It had been awhile since they had been able to just sit and talk as brothers. Everyone was working on a nice tan and feeling particularly lazy with absolutely no worries.

Frank smiled as Nancy waved to him from down the beach, he waved back. "I can't believe Nancy and I will have been together eight months next week," he murmured.

Joe made a derisive noise, "Eight months? Brother, Vanessa and I have been together…"

Frank cut him off, "forever, I know."

"Yeah well, eight months is nothing compared to forever," Joe grinned hugely and looked at his fiancé, he felt like the luckiest man on earth. "So, you ready to talk about the torture-fest you endured at the hands of Nancy's family or is it still a sore subject?"

"It wasn't that bad," Frank shrugged.

"Not that bad?" Joe shook his head, "her uncle was chasing you around showing you his nasty skin spots. That sounds pretty bad to me."

"Yeah, that part was pretty bad," Frank chuckled and put his sunglasses on, "and hiding in the bathroom was a low point."

"I'd say it was more than a low point bro," Joe winced when Frank hit him on the shoulder. Frank and Joe sat in companionable silence for a moment watching Nancy and Vanessa stop to talk to an older couple a little ways down the beach.

"I'm thinking of buying a house," Frank murmured.

Joe paused with his drink halfway to his lips, "you're what?"

Frank nodded his head, "I think I'm going to buy a house," he repeated. He didn't know why but the thought suddenly held a very strong appeal to him.

"Okay," Joe said nodding, "why?"

"I think it's a good move," Frank shrugged. "I need to buy a house if I want a family and I'm thinking of asking Nancy to move in with me. I want to live with her and it will help cut back on all of the travel time we both put in to see each other. I wonder if she'd be willing to take the train into New York for work." He muttered the last bit to himself as if thinking out loud.

"Well, that makes sense," Joe said slowly, "but why buy a house? Why not just ask her to move into your apartment?"

Frank tore his gaze away from Nancy and looked at his brother, "I don't know Joe. It just seems right. If Nancy and I are going to live together, I'd like to start out in a place that is just ours."

Joe didn't say anything. It made sense: he and Vanessa had both left their own apartments to move in together at their current place. It had been so much easier to start in a fresh place rather than trying to incorporate someone's things into a place that was already furnished. It also made sense that Frank would want to buy a house, his older brother had always been levelheaded and rarely acted on impulse.

"Well, I think that's a really good idea," Joe said finally.

"You do?" Frank asked

"Yeah, I think it's a good step for the two of you," Joe took a sip of his drink and stood to go meet Vanessa as she made her way back up the beach towards him. He looked back over his shoulder at Frank and said, "But I still think that you need to talk to her about the whole marriage thing."

Frank gulped and nodded, "yeah, I think so too." Frank stood and went to meet Nancy at the bottom of the porch steps, "are you having fun?"

"Of course," Nancy said with a smile and leaned up to give Frank a kiss, "you want to take a walk down to the ocean with me?"

"I would love to," Frank gripped Nancy's hand in his as they slowly walked down to the waters edge. They stood like that, hand in hand and stared out at the vast expanse of water.

"It's so powerful," Nancy murmured, "the ocean. It's so big."

Frank put his arm around Nancy's shoulder and drew her close. "I'm so glad I get to be here with you."

Nancy turned to stand in front of Frank and wrapped her hands in his hair, kissing him deeply, "I'm glad to be here with you, too."

"Frank! Nancy!" at the sound of Joe's voice the couple turned to see why he was shouting. Joe was running down the beach to where they stood. Frank and Nancy exchanged a look and turned to meet Joe halfway.

"Joe? What's wrong?" Frank looked over Joe's shoulder for Vanessa, "didn't something happen to Vanessa?"

"No, she's fine. She's inside," Joe took a deep breath; "I just got a call from Bernie and Mary Anne."

"Are they okay?" Nancy asked quickly, the concern in her voice apparent.

"They're fine physically, but you remember their son's daughter right?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, Ashley," Nancy nodded thinking of the little girl in her pretty dress dancing at her grandparents wedding. "What's happened to her?"

"She's been kidnapped."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews and for reading! I love to hear your thoughts. Here it is: Chapter 5! Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 5**

Frank rubbed his hands over his face in exhaustion and took a deep breath as their plane landed in New York. It was late, or rather very early morning and Frank, Nancy, Joe and Vanessa had taken the first flight out of LAX at hearing the news of Ashley's kidnapping. They had been traveling for the better part of twelve hours.

The plane taxied into the terminal and Frank stood to take out his and Nancy's carryon luggage. Nancy squeezed Frank's hand and stifled a yawn. They walked up the aisle together and out into the terminal where they waited for Joe and Vanessa. When the couple finally emerged behind the crowd of departing passengers it looked like they were deep in conversation. Neither one of them looked happy.

"What's going on?" Frank asked as the pair walked over to where Frank and Nancy stood waiting.

"Vanessa won't go home," Joe explained and turned back to his fiancé. "Please go home, you're tired."

"So are you," Vanessa pointed out, "look, they're my friends too and I want to be there for them. I may not be a detective but I can offer comfort. I'll go home when you go home," she finished stubbornly.

Joe stood in silence for a moment before nodding his head in agreement, "fine. Let's go get our baggage."

The early light of dawn was beginning to show as the four walked out of the airport and to the car they had left in the overnight parking lot six days ago. Nobody said very much, everyone was lost in their own private thoughts and worries for Bernie, Mary Anne and Robert but most of all, for Ashley.

"Did they give you any details?" Frank asked Joe again when they were all settled in the car. Joe shook his head in the backseat where he had Vanessa's head on his shoulder.

"No, at that time they didn't know very much. She was at the park with her nanny, one minute she was there the next minute she wasn't," Joe sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I talked to Mary Anne briefly when we were in Chicago," Nancy said from the passenger seat. She gripped Frank's hand in hers and struggled to keep her voice level. "Mary Anne said that there had been some developments but I didn't get a chance to ask her what. She said to meet them at her son's house whenever we arrived. She'd be awake."

"I can't believe I wished for this," Joe muttered and Frank's eyes found his brother's in the rearview mirror.

"What do you mean?" Frank asked sharply.

"I was so bored, wanting something to do, something to solve," Joe let out a sound of disgust. "I can't believe I wished for this," he repeated.

"You didn't wish for this to happen!" Frank said angrily, "why would you even think something like that?"

"Whatever bro, we can't all be saints like you," Joe glared back at his brother.

"Guys!" Nancy interrupted before the argument could get any worse, "are you listening to yourselves?" she demanded.

"Yeah," Vanessa sat up and glared at both Frank and Joe, "snap out of it, you guys aren't the only ones who are tired but you don't see Nancy and me griping at each other. We're all worried about Ashley," she added, softening her tone, "don't worry, you'll find her."

"Frank's right Joe, it's a waste of time to blame yourself for this, so knock it off," Nancy said and turned to Frank, "and you shouldn't be baiting your brother that way. You guys are a team, fighting about nothing is an insult to how well you two get along."

Frank and Joe were silent for a moment, thoroughly chastised by the women they loved. They exchanged a glance in the rearview mirror and Joe sighed, "You're right Vanessa, you too Nancy."

"Of course we're right," Vanessa replied primly.

"Who knew we had such bossy girlfriends?" Frank said with a half smile at his brother, their fight already starting to fade into memory.

"I've always known Nancy was bossy," Joe retorted and earned a laugh from everyone in the car.

They were all silent for a few moments before Frank turned to Nancy, "which exit do I take?"

The mood in the car seemed to shift again as they all started thinking about Ashley, "how scared she must be." Vanessa murmured and Joe could see the tears start to well in her eyes.

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, "don't worry, a very smart woman told me that we'd find her." Vanessa gave Joe a watery smiled and leaned into his protective arms.

Twenty minutes later and they had arrived at Robert's house. It was located on a quiet tree lined street and was a beautiful two story brick structure. Frank pulled into the driveway behind what he recognized to be Bernie and Mary Anne's Outback and a sleek black BMW.

They walked up to the front door and Frank gave a soft knock, "this house is so beautiful," Vanessa breathed looking at the ivy climbing the side of the house, "it has white shutters! I love white shutters," she exclaimed and Joe looked where she was pointing and the light from the early morning sun glinted off the windows.

The door was opened a moment later and a very tired looking Mary Anne greeted them with a small smile, "I'm so glad you guys are here." She started crying then and pulled each of them into a hug, "I'm so sorry, you must be exhausted. Come in, come in, I have fresh coffee in the kitchen."

"Thank you," Frank said and they all stepped into the house. The house was stylish and elegant but had the unmistakable signs of a house well lived in: shoes in the hallway, keys on the side table and pictures of family lining the walls.

Mary Anne led them to the kitchen where they saw Bernie and Robert sitting at the kitchen table, each with their own cup of coffee. Robert lifted weary, blood shot eyes on the group when they walked in, "thank you so much for coming," his voice was gravelly and thick from lack of sleep.

Bernie stood and gave Frank, Nancy and Vanessa hugs murmuring his thanks as he went along. When he reached Joe he paused and for the first time his eyes began to well up. Joe and Bernie had forged a special bond over their months of friendship and it seemed there was an unspoken conversation going on before Bernie clasped Joe in a fierce hug.

"Please, have a seat," Mary Anne motioned to the kitchen table and brought over cups of coffee for everyone. She set a plate of scones in the middle of the table but nobody seemed all that interested in eating.

"We're so sorry we interrupted your vacation," Mary Anne said as she took a seat next to her husband. He gripped her hand in his on top of the table and nodded his head in agreement.

"Don't apologize, we're glad you called," Nancy reached across the table and laid her hand on top of the couples joined ones. She squeezed and then pulled back to stare helplessly at Frank, where to begin?

Robert cleared his throat and said, "I know you two are private detectives. I'd like to hire you to find my daughter. I'll pay whatever your fee is," he said shifting his gaze between Frank and Joe.

Frank reached over to the desolate man sitting beside him. Gone was the polished and sophisticated lawyer he had known, in his place sat a thoroughly dejected father, his hair was a mess and his expensive sweatshirt was rumpled and wrinkled. Frank laid his hand on his shoulder, "this is no charge. We care about Ashley; we'll do everything in our power to get her back."

"Thank you," Robert mumbled and rubbed at his eyes.

"We know you have your own cases to worry about at the FBI, Nancy but we'd really appreciate it if you could help us too," Mary Anne asked.

"Of course I'll help. I have a few days left on my vacation and after that I'll figure something out," she returned Mary Anne's grateful smile.

"Have you guys called the police?" Joe asked looking at Robert and then at Mary Anne and Bernie.

"That was the first thing I did when Frannie called yesterday from the park. We called the police, they've been here already and they're looking for leads but they don't sound hopeful," Robert said and ran his finger absently around the rim of his cup.

"We've been driving the neighborhoods around the park since Ashley went missing yesterday," Bernie said, "we were hoping that maybe she had just wandered off somewhere."

"We were hoping that until we got the phone call," Mary Anne said and glanced at her son whose eyes began to tear up. Soon he was crying silently and his mother pulled him into her arms.

"Are those the developments you were talking about?" Nancy asked quietly a few moments later.

"Yes," Mary Anne nodded and stroked her son's hair.

"The men who took my granddaughter called yesterday but didn't say much. They started saying something but the phone went dead. They didn't call back and they didn't say much of anything," Bernie shrugged and looked frustrated, "all they said was: 'we've got her' before the line went dead. It wasn't like they hung up the phone; it was like they were cut off."

"The line didn't go dead before I heard my daughter crying," Robert said helplessly. "She was crying and she sounded so frightened. Who would do this? She's all I have left after Jenny died…she's my whole world."

"Do you have any idea who would kidnap your daughter?" Frank asked carefully.

"No, I've thought and thought about it but I really can't think of anyone. I'm not working on any high profile cases right now and I don't think I've made any enemies through my work. I just don't know." Robert buried his face in his hands and his mother rubbed his back.

"Okay," Frank said thinking hard, "we'll need a list of all of your cases from the last couple of months, high profile or not. We'll start there and if we need to dig into your cases from before that."

"I'll call my secretary and have her compile the list," Robert said and glanced at the clock on the wall, "she won't be in for awhile longer."

"Let's all move into the living room," Mary Anne suggested and stood up from her seat.

"You guys go ahead," Robert said bleakly, "I need a minute."

Everyone watched as Robert left the room, "he's been frantic." Mary Anne explained, "I mean, we all have, but he's obviously been hit by this so much harder. After Jennifer died he was a mess, Ashley was his light."

"We'll find her," Joe said trying to reassure the worried grandparents.

"I have faith that you will," Mary Anne said with a sad smile and led the group into the living room.

"What are these?" Vanessa asked pointing at a group of leather books on the bookcase.

"Jennifer made those after she was diagnosed with cancer," Mary Anne explained.

"She wanted to leave something behind for Robert and Ashley to remember the fun times that they had," Bernie said and wrapped his arm around his wife.

"Do you mind if we take a look?" Nancy asked.

"Not at all," Mary Anne said and Nancy pulled the first book off the shelf. They all gathered around her as she began flipping the pages. The first pages were full of when Robert and Jennifer had first met: college football games and a semester abroad in Italy.

"They were college sweethearts," Nancy said with a smile and flipped the page to pictures of their graduation.

"Jennifer was so proud of Robert when he was accepted into Law school, we all were," Mary Anne said with a smile at her daughter in law. The rest of the first book was filled with more camping trips and family gatherings. At the end of the book were pictures of Robert and Jennifer's wedding and honeymoon. Nancy grabbed the second book and flipped it open to reveal a pregnant Jennifer who seemed to be just glowing.

"They were so happy to find out they were pregnant," Bernie said as Nancy flipped through the pages of Jennifer's pregnancy. Jennifer had handwritten out her thoughts and feelings on being pregnant throughout the pages. What a wonderful gift of love to her husband and daughter.

After the pages filled with the proud father and the happy mother there was a page dedicated to a newspaper article, "what's this?" Nancy asked reading the headline out loud, "Local Man Thinks Big." Under the headline was a picture of a very happy looking Robert standing in front of the house they were all currently sitting in.

"Robert has always had a way with money," Bernie began, "he's always been an excellent saver. After Ashley was born he made some extremely good investments that paid off ten-fold. He made himself a nice sized nest egg and a healthy retirement fund. He even invested for Mary Anne and I, helped boost our retirement fund as well."

"The local paper did a piece on it," Mary Anne said proudly, "asked him to list his top five tips for new investors."

Nancy skimmed the article but nowhere was it listed how much Robert had made, the article did however allude to a large amount of money.

"They were so proud of each other and their accomplishments, Robert was about to make partner when Jennifer got sick. He took time off and declined the offer so he could be with her and Ashley more. He loved her so much."

"It's so sad," Vanessa murmured as they finished looking at the rest of the second book. "How something so wonderful can be ripped out of your hands just like that." She turned watery eyes on Joe and gave him a hug.

Frank reached over and gave Nancy's hand a reassuring squeeze, letting her know that he was just as thankful as she was to have her in his life.

"Hey," Robert said from the doorway. He had changed his clothes and was looking a bit more put together. He smiled when he saw the book in Nancy's hands, "Jennifer's books."

"She's an amazing woman," Nancy returned his smile.

"She really was," Robert leaned over to look at the page, "that was the camping trip when she got stung by two bees at the same time. She said she'd never had more fun but I'm sure she was being sarcastic."

The phone rang then, interrupting the group's trip down Robert's family's memory lane. Robert walked quickly across the room and answered it. "Hello?" His grip on the phone tightened immediately and he shouted, "Please! Give me my daughter back; I'll do anything you want." He listened for a moment and Bernie walked over to stand next to his son, "what? I can't…I don't have…" he was apparently cut off by the person on the phone, "but…" he stopped and then slammed the phone down in the cradle. "They hung up," he said lifting a shaky hand to cover his eyes.

"What did they say?" Frank asked.

Robert seemed not to have heard Frank and muttered, "I don't have that kind of…I just…the medical bills…"

"Son?" Bernie said laying a hand on Robert's shoulder, "Son, what did they say?"

"They want money," Robert said in a strangled voice, "a lot of money, more money than I have." Robert started shaking his head, "I don't have that much anymore! So much of it went to helping Jennifer in those last months and to pay for medical bills and to take all those family trips together before she passed. I don't have that much anymore! Dad, what am I going to do?" Robert stared at his father with devastated eyes, "What am I going to do? They have my little girl!"

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile…but as most of you probably know, it was the Fourth of July last weekend and I had a family/friend gathering at my place. My family is just like Nancy's family in this story so you can imagine how crazy it was. Uncle Bear got himself stuck in the back of my aunt's car and it was quite the production to try and get him out again. I'm slowly recovering from the ordeal :) and I'm hoping that fan fiction will return me to my normal state. lol. Anyway, I have no idea what I'm going to write for this chapter…let's see what comes out! I hope you guys had a great Fourth of July weekend (or if you don't celebrate that particular holiday, a great weekend) and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Thank you all SO MUCH for the reviews!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 6**

"I feel so bad for the Shoemaker's," Nancy said as they walked down the front steps of Robert's house, "especially for Robert. He's heartbroken."

"I know," Vanessa said sadly and leaned into Joe's arms, "he's devastated."

Frank shoved his hands in his pockets, "where should we start?" he sounded confused and angry, his dark brown eyes blazing, "we have to find that little girl. We have to find her."

"We will bro," Joe said trying to sound convincing.

"I think we should all head back to my apartment because its closer," Nancy said "and we can strategize from there. I can call Michael at work and see what the FBI has uncovered. I don't want them to know I'm back from vacation yet, because it's unlikely I'd be placed on this case. I want to try and help as much as I can before I go back to work."

"Alright, sounds good," Joe nodded and they all climbed in the car. The ride to Nancy's apartment was a quiet one, everyone deep in their own thoughts. Nancy kept glancing at Frank, she knew that he was taking this pretty hard and it worried her. His hands were tight on the steering wheel and his jaw was set. She laid a tentative hand on his knee in support and she could feel him struggling to relax. He took his right hand off the steering wheel and gripped her hand in his. He shot Nancy a reassuring smile but she could still see the tension working in his jaw.

They all climbed wearily out of the car and climbed the steps into Nancy's apartment. Nancy unlocked her front door and they all stepped inside. "You have a nice place," Vanessa said with a smile and looked around the room.

"Thank you, I was really lucky to find this apartment," Nancy set her stuff down and walked back to the kitchen. "I don't know what I have to eat, but it's almost lunch time, we could order delivery," she suggested.

"Is it true you can have McDonald's delivered in Manhattan?" Joe asked as he flopped down on Nancy's couch.

"Yes, they've actually started delivering in the Bronx and Brooklyn too," Nancy replied.

"Man, if I lived in New York I would get so fat," Joe rubbed his stomach, "I could order from McDonald's and never leave the couch. Baby, would you still love me if I had fry breath all of the time?"

"Of course I would," Vanessa leaned over and gave Joe a kiss, "but just in case, we are _never_ moving to the city."

Joe laughed and returned Vanessa's kiss, "that sounds like a plan."

They settled on Chinese and within forty-five minutes Nancy and Frank sat sharing orange chicken and fried rice. "Okay, Joe said around a mouthful of pork, "I think we need to start with the nanny."

"I was thinking the same thing," Frank said nodding, "ask her a few questions, get a feel for her, and see if she's a potential suspect."

"A suspect?" Vanessa said clearly confused, "you guys think the nanny could have had a hand in this? Robert talked so highly of her."

"The nanny is a good place to start," Joe explained to Vanessa, "she's the last person who saw Ashley. She may not be guilty, but she can probably provide some valuable information."

"Hm," Vanessa shook her head, "I'm glad I'm not a detective, it would be hard to be so suspicious of people all the time."

"You get used to it," Nancy smiled ruefully, "which may or may not be a good thing."

"Okay, so we contact the nanny," Frank said and took a drink of his pop, "I also think we should talk to Robert's co-workers, see what they say."

"Well," Joe said wiping his hands on his napkin. Let's get started," he checked his watch, "you and Nancy can get started on Robert's office and Vanessa and I will talk to the nanny."

"_We_ will?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure," Joe shrugged, "it's take your fiancé to work day. You'll finally get an idea of what I do all day."

"I'm confused, so we're not going to talk to the nanny?" Vanessa asked innocently.

"What are you talking about? I just said…" Joe frowned at Vanessa, not understanding why she didn't get it.

Vanessa cut him off, "you said that I was going to get an idea of what you did at work. Don't you play thousands of games of solitaire all day?" she asked sweetly.

Joe's mouth dropped open and he stuttered, "well…I can't…I…you've been talking to Frank too much!" he accused, "that's it. No more talking to Frank. You're cut off."

Vanessa giggled and gave Frank a high five, "good one." Frank smiled.

Joe called Robert and asked him for the nanny's information and to ask if it was okay if they went to his office and asked a few questions. "Absolutely," Robert agreed, "ask whatever questions you need. Just find my daughter. I have that list from the office of all the cases I've worked on the last couple of months. Should I fax it over?"

"Yeah," Joe replied and repeated the number that Nancy wrote down.

"The FBI is setting up a tap on my phone," Robert said, "in case they call again. We might be able to get some information."

"That's good," Joe nodded his head, "we'll keep you posted on our progress."

"Thank you so much."

It turned out that Frannie lived a few blocks from Nancy and so Joe and Vanessa went off to interview the woman while Nancy and Frank waited for the fax to come through. A few moments later the beep of the fax machine signaled the arrival of the documents and Nancy went into the back room to grab them.

She wandered back into the living room to where Frank sat and took a seat next to him. "Alright, let's see here," she murmured and ran her finger down the list, "these cases aren't that high profile."

"A few corporate cases, some DUI, a hit and run, minor theft…it looks like Robert has been doing a lot of pro bono work for his firm lately," Frank pointed out.

"Yeah," Nancy replied, "I don't see these cases being overly dramatic or earning Robert any major enemies. In most of these cases he's fighting for the little guy."

"Could be he upset a bigger guy in the process," Frank suggested.

"Yeah," Nancy agreed and stood up, "well, let's go Hardy. We have lawyers to interview. On the way I'll call Michael and see what the Bureau has uncovered."

"Sounds good," Frank said and stood up, "what's the name of Robert's firm?"

"Cutler, Cutler and Beckett." Nancy replied as they stepped out of her apartment and locked the door behind them.

"Cutler, Cutler and Beckett," Frank repeated, "why is it that law firms are so unoriginal with their names?"

Nancy glanced at Frank and smiled, "Excuse me? Mr. _Hardy and Sons Investigations_?"

Frank flushed in embarrassment, "oh," he smiled at Nancy, "Cutler, Cutler and Beckett…very imaginative and informative. I like it."

"Of course you do," Nancy laughed and stepped outside the front door of her building.

* * *

"Frannie St Clair?" Joe said into the intercom at the front door of the nanny's building, "it's Joe Hardy. Robert told you I'd be stopping by?"

"Oh yes, you can come right up," the buzzer on the door sounded and Joe reached for the door handle. He and Vanessa walked down the hallway to Frannie's front door where she was already standing waiting for them. Frannie was an attractive woman in her early forties with curly brown hair pulled back in an elegant knot at the nape of her neck.

"It's nice to meet you Miss St Clair," Joe said offering his hand. Vanessa nodded and did the same. "I'm Joe and this is my fiancée Vanessa Bender."

"It's nice to meet you Miss St Clair," Vanessa said.

"Please call me Frannie, my mother was Miss St Clair," the woman said with a smile and held open the door to her apartment.

"Thank you," Joe said and walked into the elegantly decorated apartment. Joe was lost on the style of the furniture but Vanessa noticed in awe some of the beautiful antiques.

"This table," Vanessa said about the small table in the entryway, "it's beautiful!"

"I inherited it from my mother," Frannie explained and walked into the living room and gestured for Vanessa and Joe to take a seat on the couch, "could I get you some tea?"

"Please," Vanessa replied but Joe shook his head no, he had never been one to enjoy tea.

"I know what you want," Frannie said with a kind smile, "I've been around Robert long enough to know what you men want in the afternoon and let me tell you it's not tea."

She came back a few moments later with a tray of tea and a glass of Coke for Joe, "thank you," Joe said and took a grateful sip of the cool liquid.

"How long have you known Robert?" Joe asked and set his drink down on one of the coasters on the coffee table, both women noticed and approved the gesture.

"I'd say going on two years now," Frannie said with a nod, "yes, he hired me after Jennifer was diagnosed to help when she wasn't feeling well. Jennifer was a lovely woman."

"And Ashley?" Joe asked and the woman's careful composure seemed to crumble at the name.

"I'm sorry," she blubbered and drew out a delicately embroidered handkerchief, "I was doing so well, keeping it together this long. All day I've been an absolute mess and when Robert called I thought to myself 'Frannie, you buck up and keep it together while that detective is here'," Frannie sniffed loudly and fresh tears poured down her face, "I'm so sorry, I need a minute." She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly for a moment. Vanessa leaned over and laid a comforting hand on the woman's knee.

"Thank you," Frannie whispered a moment later and patted the handkerchief on her face and sniffed.

"It's alright," Joe said softly, "this must be very upsetting for you."

"It's my fault!" Frannie cried in distress, "She was in my care when it happened. Oh, I'm so worried for her. All day I've been wishing I could go to Robert and comfort him or at least _be_ there for him, but I'm sure I'm the last person he wishes to see right now."

"I bet he'd love to see you," Vanessa said kindly.

"Thank you, but I doubt it, I just feel so horrible about all of this," Frannie sniffed again, "but we're not here to talk about me. I'll do anything I can to help you find Ashley."

"Can you tell me what happened yesterday?" Joe asked.

"We started the day as we normally do, I made her breakfast and we took the dog on a walk around the neighborhood. We came back and she spent some time reading and playing with her dolls while I did some things around the house. Robert doesn't pay me for that, but I like to help him out when I can. He's a very busy man and wants to spend any free time he does have with his daughter so he doesn't have much time for cleaning and cooking."

"Okay, so what did you do after she played for awhile?" Joe prompted.

"Well, I fixed her lunch because at that point it was time to eat." Frannie smiled, "she was so excited because I made her favorite: grilled sandwiches with the crusts cut off and tomato soup with tortilla chips on top. After lunch I cleaned up and told her we'd take a walk to the park to play on the toys. On the way there the ice cream truck drove by and we each got an ice cream cone. She had Rocky Road and I had Vanilla," Frannie laughed, "she told me I was boring for picking Vanilla."

"So, the park you went to is near Robert's house?" Joe asked.

"Yes, it's a few blocks away on Pine Street," Frannie nodded. "We arrived at the park and I sat on a bench and watched her play on the swings. It was a busy day at the park and soon Ashley was climbing all over the jungle gym and playing on the slide with all of the other kids. I don't know how it happened, one minute I was watching her swing on the monkey bars and the next minute she had vanished," fresh tears began to fall from Frannie's eyes and she wiped at them with the damp handkerchief.

"Do you remember anything suspicious; an out of place adult or a car leaving in a hurry?" Joe desperately wanted Frannie to remember something, anything that would help them find Ashley, fast.

"I'm sorry," Frannie screwed up her face in concentration, "I don't…" her voice trailed off and Joe could tell she was thinking hard. "After I realized she was missing I was frantic, I yelled out for her and the other parents became alarmed, everyone began looking for her." She bit her bottom lip and thought harder still and her eyes lit up, "I do remember something out of place!" she said triumphantly. "I didn't see him around after Ashley went missing, but when we first arrived at the park I noticed a man sitting in his car watching the kids. I didn't think anything of it because, why would I? I couldn't see him very well but he was driving a black truck. I remember because it was one of those fancy deals that he had lifted, you know?"

"That's really great, Frannie," Joe said encouragingly, "that's somewhere to start at least. You should call the police and tell them what you remembered."

"Okay," Frannie said nodding. Joe spent a few more minutes asking Frannie questions about the park but there wasn't anything else she could tell him.

"Alright, one more question, do you know of anyone who has a personal grudge against Robert?" Joe asked.

Frannie thought for a moment, "I'm sorry, I really can't think of anyone."

"That's okay, if you do, here's my number," Joe said and handed it to Frannie, "call me if you remember anything, even if you don't think it's important."

"Okay, I will," Frannie agreed and walked Vanessa and Joe to the door, "please find her," she pleaded.

"We will," Joe promised and stepped out into the hallway.

Vanessa was peering at Frannie curiously until she let out a small gasp, "I know who you are!" she cried. Frannie smiled, "you're Augusta St Clair's daughter!"

"Yes, I am," Frannie said with a nod.

"I knew it! The whole time I was trying to figure it out, but…why are you a nanny? You're practically royalty; your mother married the prince of Norway! She was a major movie star!" Vanessa said excitedly.

"Well actually, I _am_ technically royalty but fortunately I was able to skip out on the crown because I have an older brother," Frannie smiled, "I'm a nanny because I like it and I happen to get very bored easily."

"Does Robert know?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes and he is just as baffled by the way I choose to spend my time as you are," Frannie replied.

"Wow, well…can I just say that your mother was stunning in the movie _Last War_? Truly, breathtaking," Vanessa said.

"Thank you," Frannie replied, "she would be glad to hear it."

"Well, thank you for your time Frannie," Joe said with a smile, "call me if you remember anything."

"Of course," Frannie waved and then closed the door to her apartment. Vanessa waited until they were outside to freak out.

"I can't believe that was Princess Francesca of King Edward and Queen Augusta lineage! I can't believe she's living in New York City! Albeit she's living in a _very_ nice section of New York City, but _still,_" Vanessa breathed.

"How do you know so much about her?" Joe asked with a playful smile on his lips.

"Are you kidding me?" Vanessa linked her arm with Joe's as they walked down the sidewalk together, "Augusta St Clair was the biggest movie star of her generation. I grew up watching her movies; I wanted to _be_ Augusta St Clair."

"Interesting," Joe said nodding.

"I don't think Frannie did it," Vanessa said as they rounded the corner.

"Now Vanessa, we can't rule someone out just because you happened to idolize her mother," Joe replied sternly, sounding so much like his older brother Frank it scared him.

"I know that," Vanessa replied indignantly, sounding very much like Joe, "but I just don't think she did it."

"Why not?" Joe asked and cringed, Frank always wanted you to explain yourself.

"Because," Vanessa replied simply, "call it woman's intuition, but she was clearly devastated and she clearly loves that little girl. Besides, her family is _loaded_ and I mean with a capitol 'L' loaded. She doesn't need the cash, believe me."

"Still…" Joe began to argue but Vanessa cut him off.

"No way," Vanessa shook her head, "she didn't do it. Besides, I think she has a bit of a crush on Robert."

"What?" Joe said shocked, that was the absolute last thing he had expected to hear, "how did you get _that_ out of our conversation?"

"Joe Hardy, you adorably clueless man," Vanessa kissed his cheek, "when will you understand that we women can tell these things with little or no indication? We possess a skill you men will never be able to comprehend."

Joe couldn't help it, he laughed, "alright, if you say so. Let's call Frank and Nancy and see if they've found anything yet. Chances are they're just getting to Robert's firm. I'd like to take a look at that park," Joe murmured and pulled out his phone. Just as he flipped it open and began dialing Frank's number the phone started to ring.

He saw Frank's name on the ID screen and answered the call, "I was just about to call you. Vanessa and I just finished at Frannie's. She didn't have the key to the whole thing but she did remember something from the park…" his voice trailed off as she realized Frank was being oddly silent on the other end of the phone, "Frank? What's going on?"

"Robert got another phone call, just now," Frank replied in a strangled voice, "the FBI wasn't able to trace the call it didn't last long enough."

"And?" Joe had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Vanessa stood in front of him, a look of concern on her face.

"The men who have Ashley demanded that Robert have the money by Friday or else. They didn't specify what the "or else" meant, but my guess is that it's not good." Frank sighed loudly; it was obvious he was feeling frustrated and upset.

"Friday?" Joe asked incredulously. "But today's Tuesday and it's already almost over!"

"I know, Joe." Frank replied, "That means we have to work fast."

* * *

**Sorry, sort of a boring chapter. Hopefully things will heat up soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Okay guys, this is a really long chapter…I felt bad that I didn't update for four days so when I would have ended it, I kept going. I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!

Thank you so much Red, bookworm2009, whitetigers (yes, they do deliver. Crazy huh? And I agree about the Burger King…much tastier), christiangreasergirl, Diamond and Stars and MissMe113 for your reviews! I love hearing what you think!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 7**

The cab pulled up to the front door of Cutler, Cutler and Beckett just as Frank's phone began to ring. He shared a look with Nancy before he pulled the phone open, "Hello, Frank here."

"Frank, it's Robert," the man's voice was shaky and raw with emotions, "I just got another call."

Frank paid the cab driver silently and listened to Robert explaining what the man had said. "Did they pick up a trace on the call?" Frank asked as he stepped out of the cab to join Nancy on the busy New York City street.

"No, the call didn't last long enough," Robert replied, "Frank; I don't think I can come up with that kind of money by Friday. The money I do have is wrapped up in a trust and I don't think I can get to it that easily. My parents offered to help but…" his voice trailed off, "it would take everything they have."

"Alright, well Friday may be close but we still have time. I'll call you tonight after I talk to Joe and I talk to the people at your office," Frank tried to sound optimistic for the worried father.

He closed his phone and filled Nancy in on his conversation, "I'm going to call Joe," he finished and dialed Joe's number.

Before Frank could even say hello Joe started to talk, "I was just about to call you. Vanessa and I just finished at Frannie's. She didn't have the key to the whole thing but she did remember something from the park…" Joe's voice trailed off, "Frank? What's going on?"

"Robert got another phone call, just now," Frank informed his brother, "the FBI wasn't able to trace the call it didn't last long enough."

"And?" Joe asked.

"The men who have Ashley demanded that Robert have the money by Friday or else. They didn't specify what the "or else" meant, but my guess is that it's not good." Frank sighed loudly and Nancy gripped Frank's free hand.

"Friday?" was Joe's amazed reply, "But today's Tuesday and it's already almost over!"

"I know, Joe." Frank shook his head, "That means we have to work fast."

"I'll say," Joe replied, "okay, well. We were already in a hurry as it was to find her as soon as possible, this just puts the pressure on a little thicker. Van and I are going to grab the car and head over to the park where Ashley went missing, see if we can find anything. We'll meet you back at Nancy's apartment at say," Joe paused as if he were looking at his watch, "six o'clock?"

"Sounds good, see you then," Frank replied and closed his phone. "We're going to meet up with Joe and Vanessa at your place at six o'clock. They're on their way to the park where Ashley was kidnapped to get a look at it."

Nancy glanced at her watch, "that gives us plenty of time to ask some questions here and get back. Let's go." Nancy led the way to the large glass front doors of the elegant law firm. She opened the door and stepped inside to the cool air conditioned reception area.

"Good afternoon," a cheerful receptionist in her mid thirties greeted them, "Welcome to Cutler, Cutler and Beckett, how may I help?"

"Hi," Nancy returned the woman's smile and stepped up to the desk, "I'm Nancy Drew and this is Frank Hardy, I believe Robert called to say we would be coming?"

"Oh yes," instantly the woman's smile saddened, "it's so sad about his daughter and after losing his wife and everything. I'll call George Cutler, he'd like to speak with you." she picked up the phone and motioned to the waiting area chairs, "if you'd take a seat Mr. Cutler will be right with you."

"Thank you," Frank smiled and the woman beamed back up at him. Nancy noticed the woman's gaze flicker to Frank's left ring finger. Nancy and Frank sat down in chairs on the opposite side of the room and prepared to wait.

"You know something Bess always told me," Nancy said thoughtfully, "whenever I was working on a case she'd tell me one thing."

"What one thing is that?" Frank asked and crossed his leg over his knee.

"If ever I needed the inside scoop at a business I should start with the receptionist, they know everything," Nancy eyed the professionally dressed woman behind the desk who kept shooting furtive looks in Franks direction.

"Bess said that?" Frank sounded surprised.

Nancy shrugged and smiled, "it was just as surprising when I took her up on her advice and it turned out to be true." Nancy shook her head in disbelief, "but you know, Bess has worked a variety of jobs. She'd be the one to know that sort of thing."

"Well, go up and talk to…"Frank's voice trailed off as he read the placard on the desk, "Rebecca."

"No, I think you should go talk to her," Nancy replied and Frank frowned, "she thinks you're cute."

"What?" Frank let out a surprised chuckle, "how do you know that?"

"I just know, now stop stalling and get up there," Nancy elbowed Frank, hard.

"Ow!" Frank rubbed his side and then looked back up at Rebecca, "okay, I'll do it."

"That's my boy!" Nancy said encouragingly, "Go up there and work some of that Hardy charm."

Frank nodded, "If Joe can do it, so can I." Frank stood up and smiled at Nancy, "wish me luck."

"Good luck flirting, honey!" Nancy pushed Frank forward when he hesitated. He shot her an annoyed look and walked up to the reception desk. Nancy picked up a magazine but didn't read it; instead she looked over the top of it and through her lashes to watch Frank's progress.

She smiled and stifled a laugh when Frank leaned an elbow on the desk and flashed his best Hardy grin, _'It doesn't have Joe's practiced flair, but it works!'_ Nancy thought to herself as Rebecca smiled back. She watched for a few more minutes and Rebecca let out a flirtatious laugh at one of Frank's comments.

An elevator dinged and out walked a tall man in a crisp expensive suit, "you must be Frank Hardy." He offered Frank his hand and Frank took it. The man turned to Nancy, "and you must be Nancy Drew."

"I am," Nancy stood and walked over to shake the man's hand.

"I'm George Cutler," the man's voice was laced with authority and yet was low and inviting at the same time, the perfect lawyer combinatio. "Please, follow me." He led them both into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. "We're all just heartbroken about this," he said to Nancy and Frank as they waited for the elevator to reach the desired floor, "anything we can do to help, we will. Robert has been with us for most of his career. He was almost made partner before Jenny got sick," George shook his head regretfully, "he backed out of that to spend more time with his family. Completely understandable of course, but we had to give it to someone else. A shame, really."

The elevator doors opened and George stepped out into a second reception area, "hold my calls please," he asked the receptionist there and Frank exchanged a look with Nancy. It clearly said: there's another receptionist? Nancy batted her eyelashes back at Frank and he grinned.

George turned left and walked down a long hallway lined with offices and stepped into a large office located at the very end. The office was mostly windows, with a spectacular view of downtown New York City.

"Please, have a seat," George motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk and then sat down in his own leather chair behind his big mahogany desk. "Would you like something to drink?"

"We're good," Frank said sitting down. Nancy nodded her head in agreement and sat down in the chair next to Frank's. "So, you've known Robert a long time?"

"Yes, when he was still a fresh-faced lawyer working at the Legal Aid clinic," George nodded and folded his hands together on his desk, "I'd heard of him through the grapevine when he was working at the clinic. It took a few years to convince him that he could do just as much good at my firm as the Legal Aid, but he finally accepted the job. I've known him for 14 years but he's worked here for 12."

"I saw from his recent cases he does a lot of Pro Bono work," Frank pointed out.

"Oh yeah, Robert is quick to take on the Pro Bono cases. Not many people want to work on them. Of course, they get paid for them out of company expenses but there isn't much prestige and sometimes the clientele is less than…shall we say, what we're used to. But Robert, he doesn't mind. He loves it; I think it reminds him of his days at the clinic."

"He sounds like a pretty great guy," Nancy said.

"He is, everyone here loves him," George agreed. "I honestly don't think anyone working here would want to hurt Robert in any way. Our firm is different than others as in, we're all like family. We work together, suffer together and practically live together. Robert is an important part of that and we all feel for him."

"I'm sorry," Nancy said interrupting, "do you have a bathroom I could use?"

"Of course, down the hall on the right," George said with a smile.

"Thank you," Nancy returned the smile and stood up from her seat. She wanted to take the opportunity to look around the offices, gauge the atmosphere for herself before George showed them around. She walked down the hallway and paused at a doorway that led into the staff lunchroom. A lone man sat at one of the lunch tables eating a sandwich.

Nancy looked down the hallway to George's office to make sure Frank was keeping him busy then stepped inside, "hello!" she said brightly.

"Hey," the man replied looking at her in confusion, "you must be the new paralegal."

"That's me," Nancy replied and walked over to grab a drink of water from the dispenser.

"Welcome aboard," the man replied, "I'm Terrence."

"Thank you, I'm Nancy" she smiled.

"I thought Rebecca said the girl's name was Natalie," Terrence said with a frown.

Nancy laughed, "Nope, last time I checked it's Nancy." She smiled, "I'm excited to be here."

"You'll like it; it's a good firm to work for. Different than other firms," Terrence took a sip of his drink.

"That's what I've heard," Nancy nodded, "how long have you worked here?"

"Four years."

"Wow," Nancy tried to sound nonchalant, "So you know Robert Shoemaker? Is it true his daughter was kidnapped?"

Terrence nodded, "yeah, we're all pretty worked up about it. Robert's a good guy. He's been through enough; he doesn't need this on top of everything."

"It's so sad," Nancy breathed, "I wonder who would do such a thing?"

"I have no idea; we all like him so much…" Terrence's voice trailed off and he looked thoughtful, "but I guess Patrick might not like him so much."

Nancy deliberately stopped the excitement from showing on her face, "oh yeah?"

"Have you met Patrick yet?" Terrence asked.

"No," Nancy replied truthfully.

"Oh yeah, that's right; Patrick is on vacation this week. You'll meet him next Monday," Terrence leaned over and threw his garbage in the trash can.

"Do you really think Patrick kidnapped Robert's kid?" Nancy tried to sound detached and yet interested at the same time. She didn't want Terrence to get suspicious.

"Patrick couldn't have done it by himself, I don't think he has that in him," Terrence shook his head, "but I think he'd be sore enough at Robert to want to hurt him. He and Robert were going to make partner together after they wrapped up a case they were both working on. When Robert backed out of the running, that affected Patrick's chances pretty heavily."

"Wow," Nancy frowned, "why couldn't he make partner without Robert?"

Terrence glanced at the doorway and then turned back to whisper at Nancy, "Patrick's not that good on his own, he skates by a lot on other's coattails, if you know what I mean. He needed Robert." Terrence stood up and walked to the doorway, "welcome to the wonderful world of office gossip."

"Thank you," Nancy replied thoughtfully as Terrence left the room. "Well," she whispered to herself, "that's somewhere to start at least."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Frank and Nancy stepped outside of Cutler, Cutler and Beckett to hail a cab. They climbed inside and told the cab driver Nancy's address before settling in. Nancy turned excitedly to Frank, "I found something out."

"Me too," Frank replied, "but you go first."

"Wait, when did you find something out?" Nancy asked. "We were together the whole time. We interviewed the same people."

"You're forgetting my interview with Rebecca," Frank said with a smile.

"Rebecca?" Nancy asked surprised, "you mean she actually knew something?"

"Yep," Frank said proudly, "and I got the information out of her without Joe's help, wait until I tell him, he'll be crushed. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Okay," Nancy nodded and began the story of Terrence and the lunchroom. "I think we need to find this Patrick guy. It's a little fishy that he'd be on vacation this week."

"I agree," Frank nodded, "that's basically the same thing Rebecca told me. I guess Patrick didn't plan this vacation very far in advance. He submitted his vacation request form to Rebecca just last week, that's definitely fishy."

"You got all of that out of her in five minutes?" Nancy asked in amazement, "and here I was thinking you were too busy flirting with her."

"Hey! You were the one who told me to flirt, I was acting on your orders. And yes, I got all of that out of her in five minutes, I happen to be very charming and persuasive," Frank sighed and folded his arms indignantly.

Nancy laughed, "Okay Frank, no need to get your tail in a knot. I know you're very persuasive."

"Charming, don't forget charming," Frank said with a small smile.

"Yes and charming," Nancy laughed and kissed Frank's cheek.

"That's better," Frank wrapped his arm around Nancy's shoulder and grew serious once more. "So we need to track down this Patrick guy, Robert probably has his address. I have a bad feeling about him."

"Me too," Nancy replied. They pulled up to Nancy's apartment just as Joe and Vanessa got out of the car and walked over to wait for Frank and Nancy. Frank paid the cab driver and joined the group on the street.

"Let's go up," Nancy said and opened the front door of her building. They stepped inside and took seats in her living room. The group took turns relating what they had discovered that day starting with Vanessa and Joe.

"I really don't think she had anything to do with it," Vanessa said when Joe was finished telling Frank and Nancy about their conversation with Frannie.

"Why do you think that?" Frank asked. Joe grinned, he had asked Vanessa the same thing earlier.

"I just think it, okay? I know these things," Vanessa said simply, "the woman is clearly devastated and it couldn't be more obvious that she loves that girl and she loves Robert. She's a princess, I mean, she doesn't _have_ to work. It's clear she does it to be around Robert and Ashley."

Nancy was silent for a moment while she considered Vanessa's point, "I'm leaning toward agreeing with you," she said finally.

"What?" Joe asked, "Level-headed Nancy is leaning toward the romantic solution?" he looked in horror at Frank, "what have you done to her?"

"Joe, I think Vanessa is right. Besides, you don't know what we found out today," Nancy replied with a teasing smile.

"What did you…" Joe began but Frank cut him off.

"Finish telling us what you found at the park," he suggested, "then we'll tell you about our day."

"Fine," Joe agreed, "we didn't find much but we did find a few people who were there yesterday and one of them remembers seeing the man in the truck. It just confirms Frannie's story. Nobody got a clear visual of him or his car and they only remember seeing the truck once."

"Okay," Nancy nodded and took careful notes. Frank started to tell their own story of visiting Cutler, Cutler and Beckett.

"Wow," Joe said leaning back, "we've made a lot of progress today."

"We have, but we have only two whole days left until Friday," Frank reminded the group. "I think we should call Robert and get Patrick's information, see if we can't stop by Patrick's tonight."

Everyone agreed and Nancy picked up the phone. Robert was confused at first by her request but readily agreed to give her Patrick's phone number and home address. Nancy noted that Patrick lived near the Hardy's in Bayport. "Do you think Patrick did this?" Robert asked.

"We're not sure, but he'll be a good place to start," Nancy answered, "listen, can I come by in the morning and ask you a few questions?" Nancy wanted to talk to Robert in person about the time he and Patrick had been trying to make partner.

"Absolutely," Robert agreed, "anything that you think will help."

"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning," Nancy hung up. "Patrick lives in Bayport," she told the group.

"Excellent," Joe replied. "We can stop by his house on our way home."

"You guys go back to Bayport, I'll stay here so I can interview Robert first thing in the morning," Nancy said.

"I think we should stick together," Frank said seriously.

"Frank, I appreciate the sentiment but we'll get more done this way. You guys head home to Bayport, check out Patrick's house. I'll stay here and do some research, talk to Michael and see if we can come up with anything on the black truck and the man at the park and head over to Robert's first thing in the morning."

"Sounds good," Joe replied and he and Vanessa stood up from the couch. "See you in the morning, Nan." He said and gave her a quick hug.

"Good night, Nancy," Vanessa replied and gave Nancy a hug too. Joe and Vanessa walked out into the hallway to wait for Frank.

Frank stood where he was and stared and Nancy intently, "I don't like this and you know it."

"I know, but it's not like I'm in any danger Frank," Nancy went over to stand in front of him and gave him a soft kiss, "It's more time-effective if we do it this way."

"I know it is, but it doesn't mean I have to like it," Frank admitted grudgingly. "I don't like being separate like this, traveling all the time."

"I know it's hard," Nancy replied, "but let's focus on one thing at a time here. Go to Patrick's house, see what you can find out and call me when you get home."

"Okay," Frank nodded and gave Nancy a long good-bye kiss. "I miss you."

"You haven't left yet," Nancy pointed out.

"I'm practicing," Frank replied and kissed her again. "I'll see you tomorrow, I love you."

"I love you too," Nancy replied and walked Frank to the door.

* * *

Frank and Joe sat on Patrick's street staring at the empty house. Joe had asked one of the neighbors if they knew where Patrick was and the neighbor told him that he hadn't seen him since yesterday morning. It was looking increasingly more and more suspicious for Patrick as Frank and Joe sat watching the house.

"Do you think it's worth it to sit here much longer?" Joe asked and grabbed a few fries from the take out bag on the floor between his legs.

"Probably not, but let's stay for awhile just the same," Frank replied and grabbed another cheeseburger from the bag.

They sat watching and waiting, for what they didn't know, for another hour before Frank became just as frustrated as his brother, "he's probably not coming back."

"Probably not," Joe agreed tapping his fingers restlessly on the dashboard.

"Can you stand waiting a little longer?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Joe shrugged and took a drink of his pop. He glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye and noticed Frank's determined expression. "What's going on with you, bro?" he asked suddenly.

"Nothing," Frank replied curtly.

"Sure, what's up?" Joe turned so he was facing his brother who stared adamantly at the house in front of them.

"Nothing Joe, it's nothing," Frank replied.

"This is a horrible situation and we're all upset about it, but you seem to be more upset than the rest of us, tell me what's going on," Joe waited patiently for his brother to explain his unusual behavior.

"I just…" Frank's voice trailed off and he gulped, "I'm just worried about Ashley, that's all."

"We all are, Frank, but you're more upset than anyone else, what gives?" Joe was not going to back down. He loved his brother and knew Frank held himself to higher standards than anyone else.

"It's just…Ashley doesn't have anyone to protect her," he said helplessly.

Joe was confused for a moment before realization dawned, "oh," he said quietly. He remembered and thought of the time when he and Frank had been kids, right around the same age as Ashley. A man their father was hunting down had decided to make Fenton suffer by kidnapping he and Frank. They had spent a terrifying two days with the man before Fenton had found them. Joe could barely remember the entire episode but he knew Frank remembered it in vivid detail.

Joe knew that the reason he could barely remember that time was because of Frank. The whole time they had been stuck with the madman Frank had protected Joe and had helped Joe feel like it was all a big adventure. He knew that his brother took his role as the older brother very seriously. "You're thinking of…" he said quietly.

"Yeah," Frank nodded and gripped the steering wheel. "She has to be so afraid," he laid his forehead on the wheel and sighed. "I need to get a grip, push that out of my mind so I can think clearly."

Joe laid his hand on his brother's back, trying to comfort and find the right words. How did you thank someone for always being there for you? How did you thank your older brother for never letting you down and for always protecting you, without sounding like a horrible cliché?

"Frank," Joe began, "I'm lucky to call you my brother. I admire everything about you and boy, did I look up to you when I was a kid. I wanted to be just like you and I still do. It's going to be alright, we'll find Ashley soon and she'll be just fine."

"I know," Frank replied and lifted his head off the steering wheel, "I know and thank you. I just need to clear my head."

"Let's call it a night," Joe suggested.

"Alright, yeah…alright," Frank agreed and started the car. He drove Joe home and watched as his brother climbed the stairs to his apartment. He saw the light turn on when Joe reached his apartment and he slowly backed out of his parking space and started the drive home.

He got home to his dark apartment and turned on the living room light. It was hard to believe that he had left his apartment a week ago and all that had happened in that space of time. He threw his bag down on the chair and went into the kitchen to grab a drink. He looked at the clock and winced at the time; he needed to call Nancy and hoped she wasn't asleep.

"Hello" Nancy answered a few moments later.

"Hey, did I wake you up?" Frank asked and leaned back on his kitchen counter.

"Nope, I'm still doing some research," Nancy replied.

"Any luck?" Frank asked hopefully.

"Not really, you?"

"No, Patrick's neighbors haven't seen him since yesterday morning." Frank rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. It had been a long, long day, "we stayed for awhile but I don't think he's coming back."

"We'll find him," Nancy said confidently. She paused, "is everything okay?"

Frank sighed, Joe had picked up on his mood and he expected that, but he was hoping that Nancy wouldn't, "yeah, I'm just frustrated. I feel like I should be doing things at all times."

"I know what you mean," Nancy replied with understanding, "my eyes feel like they're bleeding, but I know I'll find something if I keep looking."

"You should get some rest; it's been a long day. We flew all night and we've been moving non-stop today," Frank suggested.

"I'll go to sleep if you will," Nancy bargained.

"No problem there," Frank replied whole-heartedly although he didn't know how restful his sleep was going to be.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning," Nancy said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Frank replied and was smiling as he hung up the phone. He paused, wasn't it strange that the weirdest things popped up at the weirdest moments? The idea of moving in with Nancy and buying a house had just wrestled its way back into his exhausted and overrun brain. _'Think about it later, Hardy. At least save it for the morning.'_

He climbed into bed thinking his jumbled thoughts. His mind jumping from thoughts of Ashley, that long ago time when he and Joe had been kidnapped and dreams of a house and a future with Nancy. Frank tossed and turned as he tried to get comfortable and turn off his brain.

* * *

Frank pulled his scared brother into his arms, "it's going to be okay Joe, you'll see. Dad will be here in no time." Frank wished fervently that he wasn't lying.

"I'm cold Frank," Joe mumbled and shivered in his thin t-shirt and shorts.

Frank unzipped his jacket and wrapped it around his brother's shoulders protectively, "mom told you to bring your jacket, Joe," he said softly as he watched his brother clutch the warm jacket around him.

"I know," Joe said hanging his head.

"It's alright, is that better?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Joe replied.

Frank looked around the small room that the evil man had put them in. He remembered that he had taken them downstairs so he knew he was underground, even though he couldn't see out of the small window in the room, it was too high for him. "Frank?" Joe whispered.

"Yes Joe?" Frank replied.

"Have we been bad? Is that why we're here?" Joe asked, his voice shaking.

Frank tried to smile, "no Joe, we haven't been bad. We're on an adventure."

"We are?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, we're learning how to be international spies like Dad. He's coming for us soon, Joe." Frank pulled his brother back into his arms and tried not to think about how cold he was.

"Tell me again what Daddy does when he's gone," Joe requested and Frank launched into one of his wild, made-up tales of Fenton's world-wide exploits. He was just having Fenton swing between two tall buildings in Japan when the door on the other side of the room opened.

The man who had taken them walked into the room with a plate and a cup, "eat this," he ordered and placed the plate and cup on the floor. Frank could hear his brother's stomach growling. "Your father will learn his lesson; he needs to leave me alone," the man snarled.

"Our Dad is going to catch you!" Joe cried defiantly, "Because that's what our daddy does! He catches bad men!"

Frank pushed himself protectively in front of his brother as the man came storming across the room. He stopped and grinned, "Are you the little protector? Are ya?"

"Yes," Frank replied with all of the defiance of youth.

The man threw his head back and laughed. He pushed Frank aside with his foot and laughed again, "see how easily I can get through you boy? You aint nuthin'." Frank launched himself back in front of Joe and glared at the man who just laughed and left the room. Frank could hear it locking behind him.

Frank could feel himself begin to shake in fear. One look at his brother, who sat huddled on the floor, his eyes huge and fearful had Frank stopping. He was older than Joe by one year and so it was his job to protect him. He had to protect him, "its okay, Joe." He reached over and hugged his brother, "why don't you eat something? You're probably starving, you always are," he said with a smile.

Joe smiled a little and nodded, "Mom says I'm a growing boy."

"Yeah, sideways," it was an old joke that their dad liked to say whenever Joe relied on the 'growing boy excuse' for eating so much. It made Joe smile now to hear it. "Here," Frank reached over to the plate which held a half a cheese sandwich and three Oreos. "Cheese sandwich, it's your favorite," he handed Joe the sandwich and watched as his brother took two hungry bites.

"Here," Joe said with his mouth full and handed Frank the sandwich.

Frank took a bite and then passed the sandwich back to his brother, he was older than Joe, he could handle being a little hungry. He made Joe finish the sandwich and let him have two out of the three Oreo's, "are you sure Frank? That's not even." Joe frowned.

"I know, but I'm really full," Frank insisted and pushed the two Oreos across the plate toward Joe.

"You're full?" Joe asked, still not believing his brother.

"Yeah," Frank nodded, "I feel like I'm going to explode and fall down dead." Frank grabbed his stomach and moaned dramatically.

Joe laughed and reached for an Oreo. Frank looked back at the door and frowned at the little girl he saw standing there, "what are you doing here Ashley?" Frank was surprised at the change in his voice; it was deeper all of a sudden.

"Frank," Ashley said sadly.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Frank asked from his place on the floor.

"Frank? Are you going to save me? Are you going to protect me?" Ashley asked hopefully.

"I am, I will…I promise," Frank said desperately and started to stand. He straightened up and realized that he was much taller than he used to be. He looked down and where his little kid body had once been was now his fully grown adult body. "What's going on?" He whirled around to where Joe was sitting but instead saw that Nancy was sitting on the floor, cross legged and carefully twisting the top off one of the Oreos.

"Hi Frank," she said with a smile, "do you want to share?"

"Nancy?" Frank frowned and looked at the door; Ashley was no longer standing there.

"We can't keep doing this traveling back and forth thing Frank," Nancy said as if she hadn't heard him. She licked the frosting in the middle of the cookie, "the only way this relationship is going to work is if you move with me to Seattle."

"Seattle?" Frank was confused.

"Yes, I transferred there," Nancy said simply and popped the entire Oreo in her mouth. Frank blinked and Nancy was gone again to be replaced by Joe. The door opened and the man came back and picked Joe up off the floor, shaking him violently. Frank launched himself at the man and tried to punch his face but he found that he was once again short and little, with useless kid fists that barely did any damage.

"Frank!" Joe screamed, "Frank! Help me!"

Frank let out a desperate sob as he pummeled his fists into the man's middle but he didn't seem to notice, "I'm trying!"

"Frank!" Joe cried again.

Frank shot up straight in bed, his breathing heavy and labored. Sweat poured down his face and down his back, the covers twisted around his legs, his pillows tossed everywhere. He breathed heavily and tried to control the shaking. He leaned over and turned on the bedside lamp. He drew his legs up to his chest and rested his head on his knees.

He took deep, calming breaths and sat like that for he didn't know how long. "It was a dream," he muttered to himself, "just a dream." His shoulders shook as he felt a lump form in his throat, "the first part was real," he said to himself, "the second part wasn't, it didn't happen. Joe is fine. Nancy and Ashley weren't there," if he said it out loud maybe he'd be able to calm himself down.

Finally he lifted his head off his knees and peered bleary eyed at the clock on his bedside table, "three-thirty in the morning," he mumbled and reached for the phone. He had punched in most of Joe's phone number before he stopped himself.

"Pull yourself together, Hardy," he berated himself and put the phone down, "it was just a nightmare, Joe is fine. No use in waking him up in the middle of night because you had a nightmare."

Frank staggered out of bed to the bathroom, wincing at the harsh light when he flipped on the switch. He turned on the bathroom faucet and splashed water on his face before looking at himself in the mirror. His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep and dark rimmed. He gulped down an entire glass of water before stepping back into his bedroom.

He stared at his torn apart bed and shook his head; there was no way he was going to get any restful sleep tonight. He walked over and began to pull up his sheets and tuck them in. He quickly made the bed and ignored the fact that his hands still felt shaky. When he was done he wandered out into his living room and sat on the couch. He turned on the TV and watched an infomercial about the Amazing Bullet, not really seeing or listening to the man who was listing the Bullet's many virtues.

One thought kept rolling through his mind and he repeated it like a mantra, _'it was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare.' _One thing was for certain, he had to find Ashley fast.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I feel so bad! It's been what, five days since my last update? I'm going to post this chapter right now and try and get a second chapter written to post later. It's been an emotional week, let me tell you…but things are starting to even out again, so hopefully we'll be back on schedule soon!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! I love, LOVE hearing your thoughts!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 8**

Frank stared at his phone as it rang in his hands, it was Joe and it was six in the morning. "Hello?" he answered feeling both confused and concerned. Why was Joe calling so early?

"Hey Frank, how's it going?" his brother replied sounding way too perky for the early hour.

"Um, fine," Frank switched off his TV, his concern mounting, "what's going on Joe?"

"Not much, how are you?"

"I'm okay," Frank said and paused. He frowned when Joe didn't say anything else, "why are you calling so early?"

Joe sighed, "I had a feeling you'd need to talk."

Frank was quiet for a moment as his brother's words sunk in, "oh."

"Yeah," Joe cleared his throat, "after last night I figured you wouldn't be sleeping so great. I happen to know a lot about nightmares and feeling responsible."

"Iola," Frank said.

"Yeah and I woke up this morning and I just felt like I needed to call you," Joe explained, "So, what's going on?"

As Frank related the nightmare to Joe he found himself glossing over the bits he knew would upset his brother. He didn't realize it, but even now he was protecting Joe. "And then Nancy was sitting on the floor eating an Oreo telling me we had to move to Seattle so our relationship would work."

"Oreos," Joe said and his voice trailed off, "I remember that. You let me have two of them and there were only three and I ate most of that cheese sandwich."

"Yeah, well," Frank said clearly embarrassed and ran his hand through his hair.

"And then I got crumbs all over your jacket…the jacket you gave me because I was cold," Joe voice was getting quiet. "Oh man…Frank…" he began but Frank cut him off.

"Anyway," Frank said hurriedly, "after that the guy who took us came back and I was small again and then I woke up, nightmare over," Frank spoke quickly and stood up to walk over and stare out of his back sliding glass door. He opened it and stepped out onto his deck, enjoying the early morning light.

"Listen, Frank. Do you want me to come over?" Joe asked sincerely, "we could hang out for a little bit and relax before we head back to New York City."

Frank smiled at the concern in his brother's voice, "I appreciate it, Joe but I'm going to be okay." Frank didn't mention the vile taste that coated his throat after the re-telling of the nightmare, "I need to get some coffee in me and I'll be fine. I'll be there to pick you up at seven."

"Seven?" Joe groaned, "That's too early."

"Joe, you're already awake," Frank pointed out.

"Oh," Joe said and laughed, "That's right. Great, I'll see you at seven."

"Thanks for calling," Frank said sincerely, "really, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome; you've always been there for me Frank. It's time you realized that people are here for you too," Joe's voice was serious; "I love you, Frank."

"I love you too, Joe," Frank replied and he was smiling as he clicked off his phone, he was so lucky to have a brother like Joe.

He leaned on the railing and watched as a man got into his car to leave for work, "early work day," Frank muttered to himself and thought of his conversation with his brother. It never surprised him how well he and Joe got along, they just did. They'd always had a special bond and no one had ever been able to truly understand it. It was simple to Frank and Joe: they were brothers.

Of course they'd had their share of fights and disagreements over the years. Frank remembered a time in eighth grade when he and Joe had been in a fight, he couldn't remember why and they had lasted almost the entire school day without talking. Frank chuckled at the memory. No matter what was going on in his life, Frank knew he could count on his brother and he knew Joe felt the same way.

Frank wondered what it would be like to not have that bond, to be an only child like Nancy. It was something he could barely imagine. His eyes scanned the parking lot and fell on a young couple, walking hand in hand taking their Golden Retriever for a morning outing.

Frank watched as the couple turned to give one another a quick kiss before rounding the corner and out of sight. _'I want that in my life,'_ Frank thought to himself and felt a twinge of jealousy for the happy couple, _'I want to live with Nancy, wake up every morning with her beside me and take our dog on walks together.'_

Standing up straight Frank felt a sudden urge to _do_ something. What, he didn't know, but he knew that he needed to do something about his and Nancy's current living situation. Driving an hour or more, depending on traffic, to be with each other just wasn't working out anymore. He didn't want to have his own place any longer; he wanted to have a place with Nancy.

Frank stepped back into apartment and hurried to get ready. He was suddenly very eager to be near Nancy again. He still had no idea how he was going to ask her to move in with him, especially when they were all worked up over this case, but he knew he wanted to do it soon. _'Calm down Hardy, you've made it this long not living with Nancy; you can wait until after you find Ashley.'_ Immediately the thought of Ashley calmed him down and he felt the familiar rush of guilt weigh down on his shoulders.

"Stop thinking about your love life Hardy, there's a little girl out there, alone and scared," saying it out loud helped him gather his thoughts but brought back all of the dregs left over from the nightmare. Frank slowly got dressed and then headed outside to his car. He passed the happy couple on his way out and he smiled and returned their wave.

Frank took the roads he had traveled a thousand times before to both his parents and Joe's place. He took the same road if he wanted to go to his parents and if he wanted to go to Joe's he'd drive by his parent's on the way there. It was nice to have his family so close, just a short drive away. Frank was lost in thought and almost missed the sign on the side of the road.

He stopped quickly and pulled up next to the curb, "no way," he breathed staring at the For Sale sign in front of the house. He climbed slowly out of the car and walked over to the sign, staring at it. He pulled one of the fliers out of the box and read it over. It was perfect. The perfect house to start a family in, the perfect house to have a Golden Retriever, the place was practically crying out for kids and a dog.

Frank smiled, it was the perfect house and what a great coincidence that it was located on this particular road. Frank hopped back in his car and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the number for the realtor listed on the flier. He noted the time as he left a message, figuring it was too early in the morning for the place to be open.

"Hello, this is Frank Hardy and I'm calling about the house you have listed on Cherrywood Drive…."

* * *

"You're really serious?" Joe asked his brother as they sat on the couch together in Joe's apartment.

"Yes, I'm really serious," Frank responded and looked at his brother with a huge grin on his face.

"Well, wow," Joe leaned back on the couch, "let me see that flier again."

Frank dug the piece of paper he had folded into quarters out of his back pocket. He handed it to Joe, "they just put a new roof on it last year."

Joe rolled his eyes, "ever the practical one," he muttered and unfolded the flier. His eyes skimmed down the list and studied the attached pictures, "four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, large lawn, two car garage…you'd have yourself a slice of the all American apple pie, Frank."

"I know and the fact that it's on _that_ street, of all the streets it could be on," Frank smiled as he thought his private thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Joe was confused, "what's so great about," he glanced down at the address, "Cherrywood Drive?"

"It's…" Frank began to explain but his phone started to ring, cutting him off. Frank reached over and grabbed his phone off the coffee table, "its Nancy," he announced. He answered, "Hello?" he listened for a moment, "well, that's certainly suspicious." He paused, "yeah, I agree." Another pause, "absolutely. No problem." He smiled again, "oh, you know it," pause, "okay, will do. Great work, Nan. See you soon." He closed his phone and smiled at an expectant looking Joe. "Let's eat some breakfast."

"What did she say?" Joe asked in exasperation.

"Who?" Frank asked innocently and stood to go to Joe's kitchen and refill his coffee cup.

"Nancy!" Joe said clearly getting frustrated as he followed his brother.

"Oh, yes…let's see, I can't quite remember," Frank said screwing his face up in concentration.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Joe demanded.

"Because it's fun," Frank replied simply.

"Fun for who, exactly?" Joe folded his arms, "fine…we'll walk through this. First you said 'well that's certainly suspicious', what does that mean?"

"Nancy found out that Patrick owns a black truck," Frank replied and took a sip of his coffee.

"What?" Joe said and shook his head, "idiot."

"I know," Frank nodded his head in agreement.

"Next you said, 'I agree'," Joe prompted.

"I was agreeing with her, she says that she thinks Patrick had a hand in it, but this is coming together too easily," Frank took a slow sip of his coffee, "it is strange, how fast and easy this is all coming together."

"Yeah," Joe said thoughtfully, "Patrick seems to have just fallen in our laps."

"I agree. But, Nancy and I did have to ask questions about him to get him as a potential suspect, but it seems now that we have him on our list the evidence is too easy to come by," Frank shook his head, "I never like it when evidence is too easy."

"I know what you mean," Joe said nodding, "that hardly ever ends well. Next you said, 'absolutely, no problem'."

"Nancy asked if we could have Dad pull aside some of the tape and get a search warrant for Patrick's house. She could easily do it herself with the Bureau but she's supposed to be on vacation still," Frank brought his mug to the sink.

"Makes sense," Joe sat at one of the kitchen bar stools, "then you said, 'oh you know it'."

Frank smiled, "you have a good memory."

"Oh, just tell me," Joe shook his head, "you never used to be so difficult."

"Nancy asked if you were getting irritated over my lack of detailed responses and if I was going to make it difficult for you to get those details," Frank laughed.

Joe groaned, "The two are diabolical together."

"Big word, I'm impressed," Frank pulled out his phone again, "I'm going to call dad and get the ball rolling."

"Sounds good," Joe nodded, "when's Nancy going to get here?"

"She's just leaving and she's against rush hour so, soon," Frank replied and dialed his father's number.

* * *

"When are you going to talk to her about moving in?" Joe whispered to Frank as they walked through the empty rooms of Patrick's house a few hours later.

"Now probably isn't the best time," Frank replied sarcastically.

"Well, are you going to just buy the house and hope she agrees to move out of the city with you?" Joe asked.

"Of course not," Frank sounded offended, "I'm going to talk with her first, see how she feels and _then_ by the house."

"Silly me for thinking you'd act impulsively," Joe murmured and Nancy poked her head in the room excitedly.

"Guys, look what I found!" she turned and walked down the hallway to Patrick's bedroom. Nancy pulled open the bedside table and pulled out a small leather notebook, "it's filled with columns of figures."

"It looks like money," Frank murmured and Nancy flipped through the rest of the pages, "a lot of money."

The last page that was written on contained a list of names and totals next to them. "Those look like last names," Joe murmured, "Do you think he owes all of these people money?"

"It sure looks like it," Frank replied. He quickly jotted down the names and the amounts next to each. Nancy started to close the book when a slip of paper fell out. Frank picked it up and examined it, "it's a parking valet slip from the Wildwoods Casino Resort."

Joe whistled, "Our boy is a gambler."

"Big time," Nancy agreed. "This brings us one step closer to finding him. I say we go to Wildwoods and see what we can come up with from the people there."

"Sounds good," Frank agreed.

"And not a minute too soon," Joe said looking out the window. Two very official vehicles had pulled up behind the police cruiser parked at the front of the house. "Looks like the FBI has arrived."

Nancy sighed "vacation over." She led the way down the stairs and out of the house to meet the FBI agents who were currently arguing with the policemen standing guard in front of the house.

One of the agents turned to face the trio as they walked over to where the group was standing, "what are you three doing? Civilians don't have the right to…" he began angrily but Nancy cut him off.

"Not civilians, I'm FBI," she flashed her badge, "the scene is all yours." She motioned for Frank and Joe to follow her.

"Wait a minute," the man stopped her, finally seeming to recognize Nancy "aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"

"That's right," Nancy nodded and continued walking back to the car. She climbed inside and waited for the Hardy's to join her. "He's new," she told the brothers, "he doesn't know much and gets confused easily. He won't last long."

"He looks confused now," Joe commented.

"The Bureau probably sent him here because they didn't think Patrick's house was a big deal and to get him out of their hair for awhile," Nancy snapped on her seatbelt. "Let's go so when he finds that book and figures out where to go next we'll have already been there."

Frank started the car and Nancy twisted around in her seat to smile at Joe and then at Frank, "I love this feeling!"

"What feeling?" Frank asked returning her enthusiastic smile.

"Being one step ahead of the FBI…it's almost like being a free agent," Nancy settled back in her seat. "I'd forgotten what it was like to work freely, not have to answer to anyone." She sighed and smiled happily, "it feels good."

"Do you not like working for the FBI?" Joe asked from the backseat. Frank stayed silent as he turned onto the onramp and headed towards the Wildwoods Casino Resort, he and Nancy had talked about this sort of thing before. How Nancy was sometimes frustrated by the confines of the FBI.

"I do, I do enjoy working the FBI," Nancy clarified, "it's just nice to be free every once and awhile."

"I couldn't do it," Joe said simply, "I have a problem with respecting authority."

"That's funny, you seem to respect my authority pretty well," Frank said with a laugh.

"Har har," Joe said from the back seat.

They arrived at the casino twenty minutes later and walked inside, scanning the tables and slot machines across the massive floor.

"Where should we start?" Frank voiced his question out loud.

"Let's look around first, get a feel for the place," Nancy suggested and started to walk forward.

They neared the blackjack tables and Nancy put her hand on Frank's arm, making him stop, "I don't believe it," she whispered. Joe stopped and looked where Nancy was pointing.

"It's Patrick!" Frank was shocked, "I can't believe it either, what is he doing here?"

"Losing more money, by the looks of it," Joe said eyeing Patrick's pathetic pile of chips.

"What should we do?" Nancy asked, "It's been so long since I've worked as a free agent. Can we just arrest him?"

Frank couldn't help it as he smiled at her, "you're a free agent now?"

"Hey, I'm still on vacation technically," Nancy shrugged, "so?"

"We'll call the police and detain him," Frank replied and Joe pulled out his cell phone. Frank and Nancy walked over and took seats next to Patrick at the table.

"Hello Patrick," Frank said with a smile.

Patrick looked over at Frank warily, "who are you?"

"Frank Hardy," Frank replied. The man's eyes opened wide and he stumbled off the stool. He took off in the direction of the doors. Frank rolled his eyes at Nancy, "of course," he groaned and took off after the man.

Frank, Joe and Nancy caught up with him just outside the front doors of the casino. Joe wrestled the guy to the ground and then pulled him to his feet, just as two police cruisers pulled up. "It's so funny when they think they can get away," Joe said with a smile.

"Why'd you run?" Frank asked, "We've never even met before." Patrick remained stubbornly silent and Frank shrugged and looked at his brother, "I never understand why they run when they don't even know who we are."

"It's tradition," Joe said simply as Con Riley jumped out of his cruiser and walked over to the group.

"This is a familiar scene," he said with a smile, "I wonder how many times I've driven up some place and the two of you already have the suspect in custody."

"We're just very good at our jobs," Joe replied with a grin.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Frank excused himself from the waiting room at the Bayport PD when his phone rang. He stepped outside to the sidewalk and answered, "Frank Hardy."

"Hello Frank, this is Sheila from Bayport Realty," was the friendly reply.

"Hello Sheila," Frank stared out at the traffic on the street and noted the time on the sign at the bank. It was 3:42.

"So, you're interested in our property on Cherrywood Drive?" Sheila asked.

"Very," Frank confirmed.

"Well, if you're interested we can set up a viewing," Sheila suggested.

"Actually, I'm interested in placing an offer," Frank replied.

"Oh," Sheila sounded surprised, "okay. Well, alright."

Frank smiled and waited for the woman to gather her paperwork together. He told her his offer and she took down some additional information.

"Well, thank you Mr. Hardy. You can expect a call back about your offer within the next few days," Sheila announced happily.

"Thank you," Frank glanced at the bank's clock as he hung up his phone. It was 3:45, "Three Minute Deal," he murmured to himself. He was smiling as he jogged up the stairs and went back into the station house.

* * *

**I'm not sure if that's how things would work out…search warrant/FBI/police-wise…but it sounded good. :) I'm hoping everyone will allow me a little creative license and be able to look past any mistakes I made. :) **


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, so I posted a chapter earlier today, but I felt so bad about not updating for five or so days I wrote this chapter and I posted it as soon as I finished it. Hope you all enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 9**

"You put in an offer?" Joe asked Frank incredulously, "But I thought you said you were going to talk to Nancy first."

"I know what I said Joe," Frank shrugged, "I have to wait a few days before my offer is accepted or not. I figure I'll try and talk to Nancy about it tonight, before my offer is accepted and I sign any paperwork."

Joe looked at his brother, a frown on his face, "you're being impulsive again."

"Joe, I've only been impulsive about this one thing. Everything else I'm being just as irritatingly analytical about," Frank took a seat at his parent's dining room table. Everyone had met back at Fenton's house to discuss what they knew and for Fenton to be able to tell them what he knew about Patrick's interrogation. Nancy and Laura were in the kitchen getting a snack together for the group while Fenton was in his home office.

"Still," Joe said and took a seat next to his brother, "you're buying a house, bro." Joe clapped his brother on the back and smiled at him. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Frank returned the smile, "it feels right."

"You're right, it does," Joe agreed and looked up as Nancy and Laura entered the room carrying a platter of sandwiches and plates. "Yum, I'm starving," Joe said enthusiastically and grabbed a sandwich off the plate.

A few minutes later Fenton joined them at the table, "Patrick has turned out to be very cooperative," Fenton told the group, "He's confessed to having a hand in Ashley's kidnapping but claims to have no idea where she is."

"Can he tell us who took her?" Frank asked.

"He's refusing to give out names; apparently he owes a lot of important people a lot of money, just as you guessed. Apparently he let slip that his good friend Robert had a whole truckload of money and now one of his creditors wants a piece of the pie. If Patrick helped him pull it off, he'd pay off all of his debts and forgive the debt he had with him," Fenton sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"So, Patrick has no idea where Ashley is?" Joe asked frustrated.

"He was not let into that information, no," Fenton confirmed with a shake of his head.

Frank sighed in frustration, thinking of how scared Ashley must be. They'd caught one of the men responsible for her kidnapping but were really no closer to finding her.

The group sat in silence for a moment and Nancy answered her phone when it began to ring, "Hello?" she paused and then put the phone on speaker. "Go ahead Robert, we're all here."

"I can't believe Patrick would do something like this," Robert sounded miserable and exhausted.

"He owes a lot of people a lot of money," Frank replied.

"I know, but he's got to know that I don't have that much anymore. It's ridiculous," Robert sighed. "I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me. Did Patrick say anything helpful?"

The group exchanged glances before Nancy leaned forward, "not really, Robert. I'm sorry."

"Okay," Robert sighed, "I'm sorry you guys. You have to find her. She's afraid of the dark…I don't know what they're doing to her."

"We'll find her," Joe promised, "she's going to be okay."

* * *

Driving back to Frank's apartment Nancy looked him out of the corner of her eye. All day she had known that something was wrong. He looked exhausted and tense, even when he was joking around with his brother Nancy could see the fatigue haunting his eyes.

Something was wrong and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. She wasn't sure how to go about it, but after a few more minutes of silence Nancy came to the conclusion that sometimes being blunt had its benefits.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing," Frank responded automatically and pulled into the parking lot of his apartment.

Nancy didn't say anything else until they were inside and she was taking off her coat, "Frank, I can tell when something's wrong and something's been bothering you all day."

Frank sat down on the couch and sighed. Nancy sat down beside him and waited patiently for him to explain, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Well, I did, so what's going on?"

"I had a dream last night, that worked me up a little," Frank shrugged trying to look unconcerned. "It was really no big deal."

"Okay," Nancy nodded, "tell me about it."

Frank hesitated before he began to retell the nightmare. Nancy watched him closely and could all but see the worry weighing Frank down. "At the end, when the man came back again I was too small to help Joe."

Nancy was silent for a moment before she pulled Frank into her arms, "its okay," she said soothingly, "I never knew that about you and Joe, that you had been kidnapped."

"It doesn't come up too often in normal conversation," Frank replied with a rueful smile.

Nancy's heart went out to the two little boys, alone and scared with a madman but her heart warmed at the thought of a courageous young Frank. How young he was to have been so responsible and caring for his younger brother. "I'm sorry Frank. I should have been here. I wish I had been here."

"This morning as I was waiting for the sun to come up, all I could think about was having you with me," Frank confessed and leaned back on the couch, pulling Nancy into his arms.

"Is now an okay time to talk about our 'situation'," Nancy used her fingers to put quote marks around the word.

"Our situation?" Frank asked.

"Driving back and forth," Nancy explained, "my gas bill has tripled in the last eight months," she smiled, "not that I mind."

"Mine too and I don't really mind either," Frank said "but I agree it is becoming a bit of a 'situation'," he imitated Nancy's quotation marks.

Nancy sat up and smiled at him, "so, what should we do about it, Hardy?"

"I think there's only one thing we can do," Frank said simply.

"Which is?" Nancy smiled.

"We're going to have to move in together," Frank shrugged.

Nancy nodded, "I absolutely agree." They sat smiling at each other for a few moments before Nancy gave up. She laughed and threw herself into Frank's arms, "Excuse me, I just need to be a girl for a moment," she said as she hugged him, "we're going to live together! I feel like such an adult!"

Frank smiled and kissed her hair softly, "me too."

Nancy pulled away, "it's perfect, because I have a dining room table and you don't and I happen to _love_ my dining room table."

"Okay," Frank said with a chuckle.

Nancy looked around the living room with an appraising eye, "hm, this place definitely has potential."

Frank raised his eyebrows, "this place?"

Nancy nodded and continued looking around the room, completely oblivious to Frank's confusion, "I think my lamps would work well with this sofa."

"You want to move here, to Bayport?" Frank was amazed.

Nancy finally looked back at Frank and smiled, "of course," she said simply.

"You mean we don't have to have a huge argument about where we're going to live?" Frank asked.

"No, why would we do that?" Nancy was puzzled.

"I thought you'd want to stay in the city," Frank replied.

"Why would I want to do that?" Nancy said with a laugh, "I do love the city, but your work is here."

"Yeah, but your work is in the city," Frank countered.

"Are you trying to talk me out of moving to Bayport?" Nancy teased.

"No, I just figured you wouldn't want to commute," Frank explained hastily.

Nancy placed both of her hands on Frank's face and gave him a quick kiss, "I love you."

"Well, I love you too," Frank replied and clutched Nancy's hands in his own, "but I still don't understand."

"Frank, it just makes me love you even more to know that you would be willing to move to the city for me. But," she ran her fingers through his hair, "your family is here and so is your business and I can easily take the train to work in the morning. Who knows, I might not be with the FBI forever," she shrugged. "Besides, I love Bayport. It's beautiful here and it's a great place to live, settle in, plant roots."

Frank was grinning from ear to ear as she finished her spiel, "really?"

"Really," Nancy grinned back, "I want to move in with you and live in Bayport, Frank Hardy." She leaned in and soon what started as a playful kiss turned passionate.

Frank pulled away with some reluctance, "I'm so happy," he kissed Nancy again.

"Me too," Nancy murmured against Frank's lips. Frank pulled Nancy closer to him and left his hands firmly planted on her waist.

A few moments later he broke away and looked at her in confusion, "what do you mean you might not be with the FBI forever?"

Nancy shrugged and scooped her hair over her shoulder, "I love my work, but I don't do a lot of working with the people, you know?"

"Yeah," Frank nodded. One of the joys of doing what he did was getting to help people, see them and talk to them, hopefully making their lives better.

"I don't know, my friend at the Bureau recently quit and went back to Colorado to be the police chief in her small hometown. I like working closely with people, like we're doing with Robert. The FBI is so detached."

Frank nodded, "I've always thought that."

"Anyway, I'm not quitting, but maybe someday," Nancy smiled.

"Maybe someday," Frank agreed and returned her smile.

Later that night Frank lay in bed holding a sleeping Nancy in his arms. He was afraid to sleep, afraid to close his eyes and the nightmare would return. All day the nightmare from the night before had been at the back of his mind, swirling around with his sense of overwhelming urgency to find Ashley fast.

He didn't want to close his eyes and have that dark room from his childhood return. He didn't want to feel helpless trying to save Joe…or Ashley. The two seemed to meld together in the late hours of the night. He wrapped his arm more securely around Nancy's shoulders and she shifted in her sleep, laying her hand on his chest.

Eventually, Frank succumbed to sleep and it was as he had feared. The nightmare returned.

* * *

"Frank! Frank, wake up!" Nancy leaned over Frank's thrashing body and shook his shoulder, "Frank honey, wake up!" Nancy tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. Her pulse raced as Frank sat up quickly, breathing hard. "Frank?" Nancy whispered.

Frank's eyes stayed closed and he breathed heavily, "I'm okay," he finally managed, the words coming out strangled.

"The nightmare again?" Nancy asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Frank shuddered visibly.

"Let me get you a drink," Nancy stood and rushed to the bathroom. She returned a minute later with a cup of water and saw Frank sitting on the side of the bed, "Here, take a drink."

Frank downed the entire contents of the glass and Nancy took it back and set it on the night stand. She sat down beside him and rubbed her hand over his back; it was covered in a cold sweat. "Would you like to talk about it?" Nancy asked.

"Joe and I were in the room," Frank began in a hollow voice, "it was night time, I could tell because there was no light shining through the window. Joe was sleeping with the blanket I convinced the man to give us…Bill, was his name. Then, then..." Frank's voice cracked and was thick with emotion as he buried his head in his hands.

Before he covered his face Nancy was alarmed to see that tears had begun to fall down his cheeks. She had never seen Frank cry before. "It's okay," she said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. Her own voice wanted to waiver and her pulse was still jack hammering in her chest. "You don't have to continue."

Frank shook his head fiercely, "it was a dream," he sounded almost angry with himself.

"Yes, it was a dream," Nancy agreed, "but that doesn't mean that you can't be upset about it."

"He died!" Frank said whipping his head up to look at Nancy, his eyes filled with anguish. "Joe died and I couldn't save him! And then you died and I could have saved you but I failed. I failed." Frank buried his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. Nancy hesitated for a moment, not sure of her movements. Slowly she put her arms around his shaking shoulders and rested her head on his hunched back.

They sat like that for awhile, Nancy unsure of what to say and Frank still caught up in the very real feeling nightmare. Eventually Frank's breathing evened and he straightened up, causing Nancy to sit up as well. "I'm okay now," Frank reassured her.

"Are you sure," Nancy asked the concern clear in her voice.

"I'm sure," Frank nodded and pulled Nancy into a hug. "I felt your pulse. I'm sorry I scared you."

"Don't apologize," Nancy said sincerely.

Frank sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He held Nancy's hand in his and he took a deep breath, "it felt so real," he murmured.

"I can tell," Nancy said, watching as Frank continued to try and compose himself.

"Bill came in the room and he just…shot him. He just shot Joe, right there," Frank shook his head, the overwhelming sadness he was feeling shown clearly on his face. "And then he shot you. I failed."

"Wait a minute; did you actually see Joe die?" Nancy asked.

Frank thought for a moment, "Well, not really. But there was so much blood. He had to have died. He died because I couldn't protect him." Frank said bleakly.

"Frank," Nancy said earnestly, "Joe didn't die. I'm fine and Joe is fine. You didn't fail at anything. You're a great older brother and you've always come through for both Joe and me."

Frank sighed, "I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be able to sleep again tonight." Frank leaned over and gave Nancy a preoccupied kiss before standing up, "go back to sleep," he said and left the room.

Nancy watched him leave and stayed where she was. She didn't think she was going to be able to sleep again tonight either.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Alright, here it is…Chapter 10! Yay! Enjoy and thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Diamond and Stars (and anyone else who felt a little cheated :) ) I wrote Joe's reaction to Frank's flirting into this chapter just for you! When you mentioned it I gave myself a little smack on the forehead and thought, "doh! I KNEW I was missing something!" So, thank you and I hope you like it!

Oh yes, and Amy: thank you for explaining things to me. That makes a lot of sense and is very helpful!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 10**

Frank felt bad about being so abrupt with Nancy, but he needed to get out of that room, to be alone for awhile. He knew that sleep wasn't an option for him anymore but he hoped that Nancy would be able to get back to sleep soon. He wandered into his living room and stood there for a moment, lost in thought. '_Joe died, Joe died.'_ It was as if the two words were on a constant loop in his head, repeating over and over again. Underneath the anguish and those words, a smaller voice, just as terrifying said _'and Nancy died too because you couldn't save her.'_

Frank didn't know how long he stood motionless in the entryway but eventually he walked slowly over to the sliding glass door and out onto his deck. He lowered himself into one of the chairs on the deck, oblivious to the light summer night breeze causing shivers to wrack his body.

'_Joe died,'_ the voice repeated maliciously in his head. _'He died and you did nothing. You're an only child now.'_ Fear gripped his heart at the thought of it, "it was just a dream," he said angrily, "it was just a dream," he repeated. _'Nancy died too. The love of your life died and you couldn't stop it,' _the mean voice whispered in his ear.

The cool night air helped to clear his addled brain but he was unable to shake the despair he felt. He knew that Joe was alive. He knew that Nancy was alive and that she was moving to Bayport to be with him. One thing he did not know was where Ashley was. The logical part of his brain told him that the nightmares wouldn't stop until he found her. The irrational part, the part he hardly ever let get the upper hand was telling him that the nightmares were an accurate indicator of how inept he was. How completely incapable of saving the people he loved most he really was.

He sat in that chair for he didn't know how long, lost in thought. He barely noticed the sliding glass door open and close behind him. "I was hoping you'd fall back asleep," he murmured, continuing to stare out into the darkness.

"Well, I couldn't," Nancy said simply and wrapped the blanket she had brought with her around his cold shoulders.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Nancy pulled her hands into Frank's sweater she had grabbed from his closet to protect against the chill. She sat on the other deck chair and stared out over the parking lot with him. She didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, so she decided that silence would be best.

"I thought I wanted to be alone," Frank mumbled and still staring straight ahead reached over and grabbed Nancy's hand. He held onto her hand for a moment before he squeezed it reassuringly. Finally, he turned and gave her a small smile, "I was wrong."

"I'm glad," Nancy murmured.

They sat like that, in silence holding the others hand looking out over the dark apartment buildings. "What time is it?" Frank finally asked.

"After four," Nancy replied.

"You should try and get some sleep," Frank suggested quietly.

"I'm not that tired," Nancy shrugged.

"Are you cold?" Frank asked concerned.

"No, the sweater I stole from you is really warm," she replied with a smile.

Frank sighed, "We have to find Ashley."

"I know," Nancy murmured.

"Where are we going to look?" Frank asked, clearly frustrated. "Patrick really isn't being any help at all. Unless he can supply us with some sort of name, anything! We're back to square one."

"It's Thursday," Nancy said sadly. "We have today to figure this out."

Frank stiffened, "why do they always take the kids?" he asked furiously. "They always take the ones it will affect the most."

"They're easier to deal with," Nancy said with a frustrated shrug.

"Yeah," Frank sighed. He was silent for a moment and he sat upright, "the list."

"The list?" Nancy asked confused.

"I wrote down the list of apparent last names out of Patrick's book," he said with a smile.

"You did?" Nancy started to smile herself.

"Yeah," Frank stood up quickly and ran inside. He returned a moment later carrying the quick list he had made the day before. "I can't believe I forgot about it."

"A lot happened yesterday," Nancy remarked and look at the list over Frank's shoulder.

"I'll say," Frank murmured, thinking about the house he had put the offer in on. "He owes someone named Wiggins five thousand, but that's one of his smaller debts." Frank's eyes skimmed the page for the person he owed the most money to. "It looks like he owes this guy here, Caudle a small fortune."

Nancy whistled, "You could buy yourself a very nice house with that much cash."

Frank quickly added up the total of Patrick's debts, "If what Patrick says is true and the man who has Ashley said he was going to pay off all of Patrick's debts…he sure stands to make a pretty penny. Patrick's debts are a tiny chunk of how much this guy is demanding for Ashley's ransom."

"So Patrick is just a pawn after all," Nancy said, "he probably doesn't know anything helpful."

"Probably not," Frank agreed.

"I think we should start working on this list," Nancy said. "It will be hard with just last names, but we might be able to narrow it down. We might get lucky."

"Let's start now," Frank said. He was very eager for his mind and body to be occupied with something else for awhile. He needed to do something else besides sit and let his awful nightmare consume him.

Nancy agreed and they went back into Frank's living room where he booted up his laptop, "I never feel that bad about doing this," Frank murmured as his fingers flew across the keyboard. A second later the police database popped on screen. "My father has almost the exact same information back at the office, but right now this is easier."

Nancy smiled, "I love it when you get all tech-geeky on me."

Frank chuckled and typed something into the search engine. "Okay, there are _a lot_ of Caudles in here."

"Narrow it down to the east coast," Nancy suggested.

Frank did so and then sighed, "Still a lot."

"Try narrowing it to just New York," Nancy suggested.

Frank sighed in frustration as he read the results, "only three."

"Three? That's great! That's a nice short…" Nancy said excitedly. Catching Frank's expression she stopped, "what?"

"The first one, Liza Caudle age 42 got caught stealing perfume from Macy's three years ago. She was with her two young children. The second, James Caudle was pulled over at the tender age of 14 just two weeks ago for driving without a license. The third, Eric Caudle was cited for throwing dog poop on his neighbor's lawn. He's 91 and claims the neighbor's dog uses his yard as its toilet and he was simply returning the goods."

"Oh," Nancy felt the excitement leave her as quickly as it had come. "Not really candidates for a major kidnapping."

"Not really," Frank said in frustration.

"Which means a: the man we're after is using a different last name or b: he's never been caught before," Nancy ticked the reasons off on her fingers.

"Or c: the man we're after is a 91 year old man who hates poop," Frank said wryly.

Nancy laughed, "Or that," she agreed and grew serious. "I think we should check the rest of the names."

Frank nodded in agreement and put in the last name 'Wiggins'. "Okay, narrowing the search down to just New York I come up with one name, a Paul Wiggins arrested for DUI."

"Alright, let's try the next," Nancy said with a nod.

The next four names on the list yielded the same results, people who had been arrested but were most likely not who they were looking for. The next three last names had no results whatsoever in New York state. The last name on the list was "Parker".

"Okay, long list of Parker's in New York," Frank murmured, "It's a very common last name." He skimmed the list; "look at this!" he said and pointed at the screen.

"Mason Parker arrested for fixing race results, insider trading. He was charged with all sorts of illegal gambling charges!" Nancy said excitedly.

"Great, now we have a starting point," Frank said looking at the man's long list of charges, "Patrick was only in debt to him for 10k…but it's still somewhere to start." Frank reached the bottom of the page. "Oh man," he groaned.

"What?" Nancy asked.

"Look," Frank turned the computer so Nancy could see it better. There at the bottom of the page was a simple sentence declaring that Mason Parker was still in prison.

"He could be operating from inside," Nancy suggested half heartedly.

"Yeah," Frank said sounding just as disbelieving as Nancy. "I guess so."

"We could still try," Nancy said with a shrug, "I mean we have to start somewhere."

* * *

That afternoon Nancy, Joe and Frank sat waiting for Mason Parker to be brought up to the visitor's area. It had not escaped Joe's notice that Frank and Nancy looked rather tired and that there was a haunted look in Frank's eyes. He knew that his brother hadn't slept well last night and by the looks of it, Nancy had been there for him.

While Joe wished he could be there for his brother and he knew that Frank was having a harder time than all of them dealing with this, Joe still smiled inwardly, satisfied that his brother had finally found the happiness and security he had found in Vanessa.

"Maybe you should flirt the information out of him, Frank," Nancy said with a smile. Frank groaned and shook his head.

"What? What do you mean?" Joe asked looking back and forth between Nancy and his brother, feeling as if he were missing out on a good joke.

"Frank is actually a very accomplished flirter," Nancy said with a smug little smile. "Just ask the receptionist at Cutler, Cutler and Beckett."

"Wait, wait just a minute," Joe held up his hand. "You're telling me that you got that information out of the receptionist by _flirting_."

"Oh yes, he was very good at it Joe." Nancy patted Frank's arm, "weren't you honey?"

"Let's not talk about it," Frank mumbled his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

Joe threw his head back and laughed; "are you serious?" he turned to Nancy, "he flirted?"

Nancy nodded solemnly, "oh yes. I may be extremely biased but I'd say he gave you a run for your money Joe. He was devastating."

"Frank?" Joe said in amazement. He put his arm around his brother's shoulders, "this Frank? My Frank?"

"Yep, the one and only," Nancy confirmed.

Frank pushed his brother's arm off of him and rolled his eyes as Joe laughed himself stupid, "it's not that impossible."

"Oh but brother, it is!" Joe clutched his sides, "I wish I had seen it."

Frank was spared from further embarrassment by the arrival of Mason Parker. He was escorted into the room and he sat down on the opposite side of the table from Nancy and the Hardy's. The guard stood back and waited by the door.

"Who are you?" Mason asked suspiciously.

"I'm Nancy and this is Frank and Joe. We're detectives. Can we ask you a few questions?" Nancy asked.

"I'm not doing anything without my lawyer," Mason said angrily.

Frank leaned forward, "let us ask our questions and then you can see if you need your lawyer or not."

"You're already convicted, what are you worried about?" Joe said with his arms folded. Frank shot Joe an exasperated look but luckily Mason wasn't paying much attention. He was looking Nancy up and down, smiling. Apparently he liked what he saw.

"What'd you say your name was, sugar?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nancy," she replied curtly.

"Why don't you ask me your questions and I'll see if I want to answer them," he continued smirking at her and Frank could feel his anger starting to build. He took a deep breath to get a handle on his emotions. It wouldn't be good to lose his cool with a man who might be able to point them in the right direction.

"Patrick McCoy," Nancy said, "what can you tell me about him?"

"Who?" Mason looked confused.

"McCoy." Nancy repeated, "Patrick."

Mason screwed his face up in concentration, "ah yes, good ol' Patrick. Who's he pissed off now?"

"So, you know him?" Nancy prompted, not answering his question.

"Yeah, liar borrowed money off me, didn't pay it back by the due date. I was all set to do something about it when one of my guys from the outside told me he paid his debt in full. I no longer have a problem with him," Mason shrugged, "once you pay me my money, we can be buds again."

"So he paid you back?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, the initial loan plus interest," Mason smiled a sick smile, "a lot of interest. That's how you make money."

"Did your man say how Patrick paid?" Frank asked.

Mason shot Frank a disdainful look before fixing his eyes back on Nancy. Not looking at Frank he answered, "Wire transfer."

"Do you know of anyone else Patrick was in trouble with?" Nancy asked.

"Who wasn't McCoy in trouble with? He owed damn near half the city. The man loves to gamble but he ain't any good at it." Mason shrugged, "he pissed off Roman Caudle pretty badly a few months back. Last I heard, before I was arrested Roman was fixing to take care of Patrick."

They talked to Mason awhile longer but he seemed to not want to give away too much more information, "I've got to protect myself here," Mason said with a lazy shrug, "I don't want to go ratting everyone out. It's hazardous to my health."

"Thanks for your help," Nancy said standing up.

"Anytime sugar," Mason winked at her, "you come on back for another visit. I got a conjugal visit coming up in a couple of weeks, we could have a good time."

Nancy choked back a laugh at the same time that Frank moved forward to grab Mason's collar. Joe put his hand on Frank's arm and pulled him back, eyeing the guard who was walking over to the group, "settle down Frank," Joe said between clenched teeth. He was having a hard time controlling himself too, with the way Mason had been staring at Nancy and his last comment.

Frank pulled away from the criminal with a lot of effort. Nancy placed her hand on Frank shoulder, "let's go," she whispered as the guard came up to the table. They walked out of the prison and got into Frank's car, no one saying a word.

It wasn't until they were back on the freeway that Joe felt he could break the silence, "so, Roman Caudle."

"Yeah," Nancy sighed, "now we have a name."

"He wasn't in the police database," Frank pointed out.

"It probably just means he's never gotten caught before," Joe suggested.

"Probably," Nancy agreed.

"Let's stop at Robert's" Joe said, "It feels like we haven't seen them in forever. I talked to Bernie this morning and he's a mess."

"Yeah," Nancy agreed, "I'd like to see how they're doing."

Frank nodded and followed the freeway up to Robert's exit. A few moments later they pulled up to the house and they call climbed out of the car. Nancy hung back as Joe walked up the front steps. Frank climbed slowly out of the car and Nancy went to stand in front of him. She reached up and gave him a light kiss, "it's going to be okay."

Frank sighed and rested his forehead on hers, "I know it is. Time is running out, Nancy."

"Yes, but we have a name now. Let's get inside, check on Robert and Mary Anne and Bernie and I'll make a few calls, see what I can dig up on this Roman Caudle."

"Okay," Frank nodded, "as much as I want to check on the Shoemaker's, I don't like thinking that we're just sitting around waiting for tomorrow to come."

"I agree," Nancy nodded and grabbed Frank's hand. "Let's get inside."

Together they walked up the front steps and into Robert's entryway. Joe was already sitting on the couch, a comforting hand resting on Bernie's shoulder. Mary Anne was nowhere in sight and Robert stood restlessly staring into the unlit fireplace.

Robert turned when Nancy and Frank entered the living room, "have you guys found anything?" his voice sounded hollow and thin, thick with exhaustion.

"We have a name that might help us," Nancy replied, "I need to call my partner and get some information."

"Okay," Robert said nodding. He took a deep breath, "I got all of the money I could together. It's not what they asked for, it's only about half, but I'm hoping it will be enough…I don't know. I'm hoping it will buy me enough time to get the rest of it."

There was a heavy silence that fell over the room as everyone tried to think of something encouraging to say to the distraught father. Nancy was about to excuse herself to make the call to Michael when Mary Anne walked into the room followed closely by Frannie.

"Frannie?" Joe said.

Frannie gave Joe a small sad smile, "hello Joe. You and your fiancée were right, I was needed here." She walked forward and placed her hand in Robert's. He squeezed it tightly and gave her a grateful smile.

"Vanessa was right," Joe said.

"About what?" Mary Anne asked.

"Oh, just that…you two…err…" Joe trailed off clearly embarrassed, "what I mean is, she thought that you liked Robert…"

Frannie let out a small laugh, "we women are very perceptive."

"That's what she said," Joe said with a small laugh.

"I'm just going to step outside and make my phone call," Nancy said and with a last squeeze of Frank's hand stepped out onto the front porch. She pulled out her phone and walked down the driveway to lean against the trunk of Frank's car. The quiet tree lined street was beautiful with the colors of summer.

The phone rang once, twice, three times, "come on Michael, pick up." Nancy said in annoyance and turned to look at Robert's house.

"This is Michael," he finally answered.

"Michael! It's about time…" Nancy began but she never got to finish her sentence. One minute she was scolding her partner and the next she was hit hard from behind. Stumbling forward her phone flew from her fingertips as she lay sprawled unconscious behind Frank's car.

Roman Caudle stood above Nancy's still form, looking down on her with disgust, "well, this is inconvenient," he said and motioned for Nancy to be dragged to a waiting car.

She was dumped unceremoniously in the trunk just as her eyes began to flutter open. "Frank," she mumbled incoherently as the trunk was closed and darkness enveloped her.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hello everyone! Just thought I'd let you know, I'm not a big fan of the whole "girl gets in trouble, guy charges in to save the day while the girl sits by and does nothing", so don't expect Nancy to just sit around and wait to be rescued. :) Of course, I _am_ a big fan of guys getting protective, let's be honest ladies…most of our hearts sing at the prospect of a man going into full on protective mode (when it's not overbearing, of course). So, that being said…expect a happy medium between Frank and Nancy…I believe in a healthy balance between the sexes.

I laughed out loud when I saw that some of you picked up on the "Roman Caudle, Roman Candle" thing…I myself didn't pick up on it until I was proofing the chapter and I saw that I had actually typed Roman Candle instead of Caudle. I was going to change his name, but I thought it was just too funny. Lol. Enjoy and thank you all for the reviews!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 11**

"Nancy sure is taking a long time," Mary Anne said suddenly. Everyone in the room had been sitting in awkward silence, unsure of what to say.

Frank had been thinking the same thing and he glanced at his watch again, "I think I'll just go check on her," he said nonchalantly.

Frank stood up quickly from his seat and went out the front door. He frowned when he didn't immediately see Nancy standing in front of the house talking on her phone. Panic began to well up inside him but he quickly pushed it down. There was no reason to panic yet and there was no reason that Nancy would be in trouble.

Frank walked down the front steps, "Nancy?" he called out and looked around the side of the house. He quickly turned and walked down the driveway, stopping at the edge of the sidewalk. He looked left, then right not seeing Nancy anywhere on the quiet deserted street.

He began breathing heavily, the worry was starting to overwhelm him. "Nancy!" he said louder this time, "Nancy, where are you?" There was no response. Frank wanted to run in every direction to search for her but he felt rooted to his spot, unable to move. His eyes fell on Nancy's cell phone lying in the gutter on the street.

"Oh no," Frank moaned and ran forward, picking up the cell phone, "oh no, oh no," he said over and over again. The screen of her cell phone said she had missed 6 calls. As he was clutching the phone in his hand it began to ring again. The phone barely finished its first ring before Frank answered it frantically, "hello?"

"Frank?" It was Nancy's partner, the alarm in his voice clearly evident, "where's Nancy? What's going on? I was talking to her one minute and the next she was gone."

"I don't know," Frank answered quickly, "I don't know what happened! I can't find her anywhere!" Finally Frank was able to move his feet and he began jogging down the street, looking frantically around, hoping that Nancy had for some reason decided to go on a walk.

"What do you mean, you can't find her anywhere?" Michael's voice matched the same panic Frank was feeling.

"She came outside to call you and now she's missing!" Frank replied. He reached the end of the street and looked in both directions before heading back the way he had come, running fast. Joe was at the end of Robert's driveway, looking concerned.

"Frank? What's going on?" Joe asked.

"Nancy, she's not here. She's gone. I found her cell phone on the pavement," Frank replied and began to run down the sidewalk toward the opposite end of the street. Hoping, just hoping that Nancy would pop out of the bushes and yell, "surprise!"

"Frank," Michael's voice in his ear surprised him, he was barely aware that he was clutching Nancy's phone tightly to his face, his limbs felt numb. "Frank, I'll be there soon."

"Okay," Frank replied distractedly. He placed Nancy's phone in his pocket as he reached the other end of the street. He stood staring at the empty roads in front of him and Joe came up quickly beside him. "Joe, she's gone." Frank whispered, "Why is she gone?" Image after image from his nightmares flashed before his eyes.

* * *

Nancy shook her head to clear it; the darkness of the trunk seemed to weigh down on her, causing her breathing to speed up. Since that time in Egypt when she had been locked in that coffin she had trouble with small spaces. This was definitely a small, coffin-like space. The last time she had found herself in a situation like this one; it had been with Frank, stuck in the emergency exit in the burning warehouse eight months ago.

She didn't have Frank to help calm her down this time so she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on trying to breathe slowly in and out. It took all of her concentration to stop her rapidly beating heart, to stop the panic from bubbling forth into hysterics. She focused her mind on Frank, his face his kind eyes and what he would say to her if he was right here with her, _'it's going to be okay, Nancy. I'm here, just breathe,'_ the Frank in her mind said.

When finally she felt that she had her panic in control, even if it was still prowling around the edges of her emotions, waiting to claw its way back out, she opened her eyes and waited for them to adjust to the darkness.

She looked around the trunk, hoping to find something useful something that would help her out of her current predicament. Her hands groped in front of her for the latch she knew could be found in all trunks that would release the lock and open it. _'Aren't these things supposed to be easy to find?'_ her annoyance helped to further calm her as she continued her search for the latch.

'_How long have we been driving?'_ Nancy thought to herself. She had no idea how long it had taken her to get a handle on her panic and even now, just thinking about it was causing her breathing to quicken once more.

"Breathe," Nancy whispered out loud, "just breathe." She started to reach into her pocket for her cell phone before she remembered that it had been knocked out her hands. Sighing she resumed her search for the release latch in the trunk.

The car lurched to the right, tires squealing and came to an abrupt stop just as Nancy's fingers found the latch that promised freedom. She yanked hard on the latch and the trunk popped open. She was momentarily blinded by the light pouring into her dark prison but she didn't wait for her eyes to adjust. She swung herself quickly out of the trunk, blinking furiously to remove the spots from her eyes.

She heard the car doors opening and closing behind her and she took off running. Her eyes were beginning to adjust and she could see that she was in an underground parking area that appeared to be deserted. She ran toward what she thought was the exit and didn't risk looking back.

"Get her!" a voice demanded from behind her. It sounded far away to Nancy but she didn't slow down. She continued running for the door marked "Exit" her breath coming out in short gasps. She reached the door and threw herself against the latch. She sobbed when the door wouldn't budge. She turned quickly around and searched frantically for another way out. Two men were getting closer and closer to her and she took off in the direction opposite from them, hoping that she'd be able to find an exit before they caught her.

She ran down the length of the parking garage, her eyes frantically searching for a door in which to escape. She saw another door marked "Exit" and headed towards it, hoping with all of her might that this one would be unlocked. She reached the door and pushed hopefully on the latch, but it didn't budge. A sob escaped her throat as she tried again. She was just whirling around to continue running when a large body rammed into hers, causing her to slam painfully into the exit door.

A man's heavy breathing in her ear gave Nancy a strange sort of satisfaction. At least she had given him a hard time and a good chase.

Her arms were yanked viciously behind her back and she was pulled up off the door. The man pushed her forward, holding her arms in his hands and led her back to the car.

"Take her upstairs," a dark haired man in an expensive suit standing beside the car ordered.

"Who are you?" Nancy asked.

"My name is Roman," the man answered pleasantly, "and who are you?"

"If you don't know who I am, than why am I here?" Nancy countered.

"I heard you had an interest in me," Roman shrugged, "I like to know who asks questions about me, their stories."

Nancy was shocked, "how did you..."

"I am very well connected and I pay well for information that concerns me," Roman said flippantly. He turned to the man holding her and repeated his order, "Take her upstairs." To Nancy he said, "Don't worry; I will soon know everything there is to know about you."

Nancy was led to a bank of elevators and taken up to the second floor of the building. The elevator doors opened to reveal a long dark hallway lit by evenly spaced bare bulbs. She was forced down the hallway and the man holding her stopped in front of a door. He pulled out a set of keys and selected one. He unlocked it and Nancy struggled violently as he tried to wrestle her into the small room.

"Stop…it…" the man growled and pushed Nancy hard up against the doorjamb. Nancy groaned as her head made contact with the door frame. "Get in there," the man pushed Nancy inside and she stumbled and fell to her knees.

The door slammed behind her and she heard the key turn in the lock. She stayed where she was, on her hands and knees for a moment trying to clear out the dizziness.

"Nancy?" a small scared voice said from the corner of the room. Nancy's head whipped up at the sound of the voice, she thought the room was empty. Looking into the shadowed corner her heart broke. There sat a very scared looking Ashley.

"Ashley," Nancy said in relief and crawled over to the little girl who was clutching a blanket to her thin chest. "Are you alright?" Nancy leaned against the wall and pulled the girl into her arms, "are you hurt?"

"No," the little girl's voice shook and Nancy looked her over to check for herself. She wore a thin yellow cotton sundress that was smudged with dirt. Her hair was ratty and she looked pale and her eyes told Nancy that Ashley was in a state of shock but otherwise she seemed unharmed. Nancy pulled Ashley into a fierce hug which the girl returned wholeheartedly. "You're hurt," the girl said in a small voice when she pulled away. She pointed at Nancy's forehead.

"I'm alright," Nancy touched her fingers to her forehead and winced. She smiled for the little girl's benefit. "It barely even hurts."

"It looks like it hurts," Ashley whispered. Nancy glanced around the small room they were in. She noticed a twin mattress on the other side of the room with a pillow on it; the only blanket was the one Ashley was holding in her hands. Nancy glanced around the room and saw one small window on the opposite side of the room. Nancy thought fleetingly that this room reminded her of the room Frank described from his childhood.

"It gets dark in here at night," Ashley said in her quiet voice. Gone was the precocious and happy girl Nancy remembered, in her place was a very scared little girl. "I'm afraid of the dark," she told Nancy, her lower lip trembling.

Nancy gathered Ashley into another hug and ran her hand down the girl's soft hair, "its okay. Now I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you." She held onto her for awhile before she gently pushed the girl to arms length, "I need to stand up now; I need to have a quick look around the room."

Ashley nodded and Nancy gave her another quick hug before getting to her feet. She walked across the room and inspected the window. Of course, it had bars on both the inside and the outside and didn't have any latch at all. Obviously the window was not meant to be opened. Nancy sighed in frustration and peered out the window. All she saw was another building across from a narrow alleyway. It gave her no clues as to where they could be.

Nancy walked over to the door and inspected the handle. She let out another frustrated sigh when she realized that this lock was one that would not be easily broken.

In the silence Nancy could hear Ashley's stomach rumble from hunger and her heart broke, "Ashley," she said softly, "have they been feeding you?"

Ashley nodded her head and clutched the blanket tighter, "sometimes, but I think sometimes they forget." Her lower lip started to trembled and her eyes began to well up with tears. "I want my daddy," she cried, "why can't I go back to my daddy?"

Nancy quickly sat down to gently soothe the crying girl, "it's going to be alright, Ashley. You'll see your dad soon, I promise."

The door opened then and the same man who had put Nancy in the room looked down on the pair. "Roman wants to talk to you. Come with me," he ordered.

Nancy made no move to stand up and Ashley clung to her tighter, "don't leave me!" she cried.

"Its okay, Ashley," Nancy tried to stay calm for the young girl, "I'm not going with you," she said defiantly to the man.

He chuckled, "yeah, you are." He reached down quickly and grabbed Nancy's arm, wrenching her painfully out of Ashley's tight grasp.

Tears streamed down Ashley's cheeks as Nancy struggled to get away from the man, "please, please don't leave me alone! Please don't leave me!"

"It's okay," Nancy tried to reassure her, "it's okay. I'll be right back." She put on a brave face and tried not to let the pain show as the man yanked her arms behind her back and held her hands in his iron vise grip. "It's okay Ashley; you're such a brave girl. I'll be right back."

Nancy couldn't reassure her anymore however because she was yanked out of the room. Nancy's eyes welled up with tears as the sound of Ashley's frantic sobs followed her down the hallway.

She soon found herself in a large office, decorated with basic and outdated furniture. Roman sat behind a metal desk with an ancient computer sitting on it. "Welcome," he said with a smile.

Nancy glanced down at the handcuffs tying her to the chair and looked at Roman disdainfully, "do you handcuff all your guests to their chairs or am I just lucky?"

Roman let out a bark-like laugh, "no, I don't. I only handcuff the ones that turn out to be FBI agents." Nancy stiffened, "you've chosen an unfortunate profession Nancy Drew. Unfortunate for me and for you. If I had known who you were before I grabbed you, well, I might have done something differently." Roman waved his hand in the air, "but, what's done is done and so now we must figure out what to do with you."

"You could let Ashley go and use me as ransom," Nancy suggested. "You don't need her anymore, you have an FBI agent now, the Bureau will be very anxious for my return."

Roman pressed his fingers together on top of the desk and looked at Nancy thoughtfully, "I could do that." He finally agreed, "but I don't think that would be the best course of action."

"Why not?" Nancy asked angrily.

"Because, don't you people have a motto?" Roman pursed his lips thoughtfully, "Something about not negotiating with terrorists or kidnappers or something or other?"

"That's not exactly it," Nancy said between clenched teeth.

Roman let out another bark-like laugh, "no, I didn't think that it was."

"Just let Ashley go, she scared. I'm much more valuable," Nancy tried her hardest to convince him.

"You see, I'm not convinced that you are," Roman said shaking his head, "I don't think your Bureau would be willing to pay for your return. On the other hand, Robert Shoemaker is very eager for the return of his daughter. I don't want to bargain with an FBI agent and get myself in any more trouble."

"You're already in trouble, from the moment you took Ashley and the moment you took me," Nancy said, "one way or the other, you're in big trouble for taking an FBI agent."

Roman inclined his head in a slight nod, "that may be true; which means I'll have to be very careful in deciding what I'm going to do with you. In the meantime, please enjoy your room. I'm sorry I don't have a bigger bed to offer you."

"Please," Nancy begged as one of the men stepped forward to remove her handcuffs from the chair. He brought her hands in front of her and handcuffed them together, "please reconsider and let Ashley go."

"I need to think things through," Roman said with a small smile, "but I can assure you that letting little Ashley leave our company is not something I plan on doing. Take her back." He ordered and Nancy was walked quickly out of the room.

* * *

Frank pressed the heels of his hands to his temples and closed his eyes. The pressure inside of his head was slowly building, threatening to overwhelm him at any moment. He needed to get a handle on himself quickly; he'd be no good to Nancy if he was a complete wreck.

Joe stared with concern at his brother. He laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Frank..." he began but stopped when Frank opened his eyes and stared at Joe. He was taken aback by the devastated look he saw in his older brother's eyes.

"Joe," his voice came out strangled, "Joe, Nancy's missing."

"I know, Frank. We'll find her," he tried to inject as much reassurance as he could into the words, "we will."

"Joe, I'm losing it," Frank shook his head, "I can feel myself losing it."

Joe's concern mounted as he watched his brother. Frank, the one who never fell apart, the brother who was always able to keep a cool and rational head was crumbling right in front of him. Joe wasn't sure what to say to comfort his brother; he had never been so lost.

"Joe, she died and I couldn't save her," Frank said in a distraught whisper, "she's dead and I did nothing."

Joe stepped in front of his brother and gripped Frank's shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Frank! Frank, look at me!" he waited until Frank focused on his face, "Listen to me Frank that was just a nightmare. Nancy is fine. She's alive; we're going to find her."

Frank's eyes were confused for a moment before they started to clear. He shook his head again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I just…" his voice trailed off and he lowered himself slowly to the sidewalk. Joe sat down beside him, watching his brother's face carefully. The nightmares and the events of the last few days were becoming too much for the older brother he idolized. He was suddenly deeply afraid of what would happen to his brother if they didn't find Nancy and Ashley soon.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you so much for all of the great reviews and for allowing me a little creative license as far as police procedure goes. :) I hope all of you had a wonderful day and that you enjoy the chapter! Thanks so much again!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 12**

Joe pushed himself up from his place on the sidewalk next to his brother and walked a few feet away. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed their father's number. "Fenton here," he answered a few rings later.

"Dad," Joe sighed in relief and explained everything that had happened in the last few hours, from their visit with Mason to Nancy going missing, "and Dad, I'm really concerned about Frank. He's been having nightmares lately about when we were kids, when Bill kidnapped us," Joe swallowed and glanced at his brother before turning away again, "and Dad, the nightmares are pretty intense I think. I'm not sure, but I think last night he dreamed that Nancy and I _died_."

Fenton was silent for a moment as he let what his son was telling him digest, "okay," Fenton took a deep breath. "I think we need to get Frank working on finding Nancy, keep him busy. He's never been very good at sitting and stewing."

"I agree, but where do we start?" Joe asked and shot another worried glance at his brother, who was busy staring down at Nancy's phone.

"You said you had a lead on a Caudle. We'll start there," Fenton advised. "I'm at the office, so I'll do my research here, but have Frank pull out his laptop and do his own research. He needs to feel like he's doing something."

"Okay, call me when you find something," Joe closed his phone and turned back to Frank. "Hey bro," he crouched down next to him, "I think we need to do some research on this Caudle guy."

Frank looked at Joe and stood up, "yeah, I agree." He nodded quickly and started walking to his car, "I'll just grab my laptop," he opened the trunk and pulled it out. Joe was relieved to see Frank moving again, and not in that same jerky panic filled way he had been since Nancy had gone missing. What worried Joe was seeing that horrible look of sadness filling his brother's eyes.

They walked quickly into Robert's house and without much of an explanation; Frank pulled out his computer and set it up on the coffee table. Looking up information on Roman Caudle in the police database, Frank remembered the quiet time he and Nancy had spent together just that morning. This morning he had been so upset and she had been there for him, just like he needed her here now. He swallowed quickly and tried to push the despairing thoughts from his mind.

Frank was vaguely aware of Joe talking to the Shoemaker's and Frannie as he typed in Caudle, Roman. The list that came up was long and not one of those charges came from New York, which is why Roman hadn't come up in their search that morning. "Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago…" Frank murmured and continued reading.

"What are you finding?" Joe asked sitting down beside Frank on the couch.

"Roman Caudle, born 1961 in Billings, Montana…" Frank read out loud, "He and his mother moved to Chicago when he was 9, lived there until he was 26. He's moved around a lot since then but has built himself a nice rap sheet in a lot of different states."

Joe read over Frank's shoulder, "it looks like he's a gambling man."

"It sure does," Frank agreed, "I have a feeling this is our guy."

"Your feelings are usually correct, Frank." Joe laid his hand on Frank's shoulder reassuringly, "let's see what else we can find on him."

* * *

Nancy sat on the edge of the twin mattress and watched as Ashley slept. When she had returned to the small room Nancy had spent a long time trying to soothe the distraught girl before she had finally given in to sleep. She was curled up on her side and she looked so vulnerable. Nancy tore her eyes away and looked up at the small window. The light was fading fast.

Now that Ashley was asleep Nancy was better able to concentrate on figuring a way out of their current situation. She had already double and triple checked the window and door, but no new options had sprung conveniently up.

She sighed and rubbed her sore wrists, the heavy metal of the handcuffs were beginning to chafe her skin. She wondered what Roman was doing and what he was deciding to do with her. She fervently hoped that he would reconsider and let Ashley go, but the longer she sat waiting the less hope she had that Roman would do as she wished.

Nancy shivered in the growing darkness and reached over to tuck the blanket more securely around the sleeping Ashley. Her head snapped up when the sound of key being inserted in the lock caught her attention. The door pushed open and Ashley began to stir, "daddy?" she whispered incoherently.

"No sweetie," Nancy said softly, "its okay, I'm here."

The man who entered the room carried a bag of McDonald's takeout and a cup. He set them on the floor without saying anything and then turned to leave the room. Before he could get all the way out, Roman came charging in.

"Nancy Drew, eh?" he sneered sweat beginning to bead on his upper lip. "You know, they have all sorts of articles about you online. They called you the 'girl detective'." Roman wiped a hand over his sweaty brow and picked Nancy up to her feet.

"No!" Ashley cried, clearly distraught.

"It's alright Ashley," Nancy tried to reassure the little girl as Roman backed her up against the wall.

"You're practically famous aren't you?" Roman hissed his face inches away from Nancy's.

"It's not my fault you messed up," Nancy informed him, "I didn't ask to be taken…" before she could finish her sentence Roman gripped the front of her jacket and slammed her against the wall. Nancy could almost feel her bones rattle.

"Enough!" he growled and looked as if he were about to slam her into the wall again.

"Leave her alone!" Ashley cried from the mattress.

Roman turned stressed out eyes on the little girl and Nancy worked quickly to get his attention focused back on her. "Roman, if we have to do this…please, let's do it away from her."

He turned his head slowly back to her, breathing heavily, "This isn't what I do," he whispered. "This was supposed to be about making a quick buck. I don't know how to handle this."

"Then let us go and we can pretend this never happened," Nancy begged, Roman still had her pinned against the wall. _'Yeah right, you let us go and I'm going after you with a vengeance.'_ She tried hard to look like she meant her words but apparently Roman wasn't falling for it. He slammed her against the wall again.

"Do I look like an idiot to you? Huh? I've been a criminal most of my life, I know how this works," he punctuated his last word by slamming Nancy into the wall yet again.

Ashley was crying silently on the mattress, her scared eyes never leaving Nancy's face. "Please Roman," Nancy whispered, "Please not in front of Ashley. She'll go into shock and then you'll have a real problem on your hands."

This seemed to get through to Roman who slowly released his grip on Nancy's jacket and stumbled back, "I don't know how to handle this. Give me a fixed game at the table and I'm your man…this was supposed to be quick and easy," he mumbled under his breath.

"It still can be," Nancy said easing slowly away from the wall, "just let Ashley go and you and I can sit down and figure something out. I know all of the ins and outs; I can get you out of this. I know what will work and what won't."

Nancy held her breath; Roman's eyes were looking thoughtful as if he was seriously considering her offer. His eyes hardened and he backed up toward the door, "No. She stays and you'll help me regardless."

"I won't," Nancy replied, "not unless you let Ashley go."

"Oh, I think you will," Roman replied nastily and shifted his gaze meaningfully toward Ashley.

"You won't get to her," Nancy replied trying hard not to scare Ashley. "I'm here."

"That problem can be fixed," Roman said with a shrug. "Think about it," he said and left the room.

Nancy slid down the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, trying her hardest to stop her body from shaking. She lowered her head to rest on her knees, concentrating on taking deep cleansing breaths. The room was darker now and she was having a hard time dealing with the walls that seemed to be closing in around her.

"Here," Ashley's soft voice said near her ear. Nancy lifted her head and smiled at the offered chicken nugget, "you should eat this."

"Thank you," Nancy replied and took the chicken nugget, "you should eat too." They sat like that for awhile, munching on fries and chicken nuggets and taking turns drinking the soda. "Are you getting full?" Nancy asked

"Yeah," Ashley nodded and reached for another chicken nugget. She noticed that Nancy hadn't reached for more than two, "are you? You haven't eaten very much."

"Oh, I'm fine. I had a big lunch before I got here," she said with a wink. Ashley smiled and bit into her chicken nugget. Nancy leaned back against the wall and watched her eat, _'I have to get us out of here,'_ she thought desperately to herself, _'before Roman does something he'll definitely regret.'_

* * *

"Where are you?" Michael said angrily in Frank's ear, "I'm at the Shoemaker's and you aren't here. What part of 'I'll be right there' don't you understand?"

Frank and Joe were speeding down the highway, Frank having decided that he needed to talk to Patrick again. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you guys to show up while Nancy and Ashley are still missing," Frank growled, "don't talk to me like I'm one of your agents."

"Where are you going?" Michael was clearly frustrated, "we need to work together on this."

"I'm going to try and find out more information about Roman Caudle," Frank replied. "He's our man."

"How do you know that?" Michael asked doubtfully.

"Call it a hunch, we'll talk later," Frank hung up his phone as Joe took the exit for Bayport.

"How do you plan on getting in to talk to Patrick?" Joe asked and glanced out of the corner of his eye at his brother. Frank's fists were clenched tightly resting on his knees and there was a determined look in his eyes.

"I'll ask nicely," Frank said through clenched teeth. After trying to dig up more information about Roman Caudle and coming up empty handed both he and Joe had left Robert's to go back to Bayport and talk to Patrick again. Patrick was still in Bayport Police Department's custody, currently locked in one of their cells. Apparently the FBI had bigger fish to fry and weren't in the biggest hurry to move them.

Joe pulled up in front of the station house and parked. He jumped out of the car and quickly followed his brother up the front steps. The sun was beginning its slow summer descent in the sky as the two brothers stepped into the reception area of the station.

The receptionist knew them both and gave them a warm smile, "hello, how can I help you two today?"

"We need to get in to see a prisoner," Frank said quickly.

The receptionist frowned, "I'll have to call someone about that."

"Call Con," Frank requested.

The receptionist nodded and punched in an extension. She spoke into the phone for a moment before turning to smile at the brothers, "he's going to be right out."

"Thanks," Joe said returning her smile. Frank pushed up off the desk and began pacing back and forth across the room.

When Con appeared out of the side hallway Frank walked quickly up to him, "I need to talk to Patrick McCoy."

Con shot a look at the receptionist and pulled Frank further away from her and Joe followed. "Frank," he said in a low whisper, "I can't just let you talk to him."

"Please," Frank replied urgently, "Nancy's gone missing. I need to get him to tell us what he knows.."

"Nancy's missing?" Con asked. Over the last eight months he had grown fond of Nancy and the news didn't sit well with him.

"Yes," Frank replied, "Please Con, I need to see him."

Con was quiet for a moment as he thought it through, "There shouldn't be anything wrong with Patrick getting visitors," he said finally, "but you can't stay very long."

"Fine," Frank said, "I just need to speak with him for a minute."

Con led them downstairs and to the jail cells. He spoke quickly with the guard there and then led the Hardy's down the hall to the last cell. "Open the door," Frank requested. When Con balked he added, "Please." Con shook his head slowly as if he knew that this wasn't the smartest thing he had ever done.

As soon as the door slid open Frank was inside and stalking across the room towards Patrick who was sitting on the low cot. Frank grabbed the man by his lapels and yanked him to his feet, "tell me what you know about Caudle," he growled.

Joe and Con rushed into the cell and pried Frank off of the stuttering Patrick. Finally Frank released him and the man stumbled back, clutching his throat, "Frank!" Con said, "You have to control yourself!" He was surprised by Frank's strong reaction; it was usually Joe he had to worry about flying off the handle.

"Listen Frank," Joe said pushing his angry brother away from the cowering man, "Frank you can't do this. As much as you'd like to, think of where you are." Frank tore his gaze away from Patrick and looked at his brother. "I know, Frank, I know," Joe said, "we're all desperate to find Ashley and Nancy. Let's just ask him a few questions and go from there."

Frank nodded and Joe lowered his restraining hands from his brother's arms. He wasn't used to seeing his brother lose control so easily and it scared him. Con was eyeing Frank warily, "it's alright Con, I'm okay." Frank assured his old friend taking a deep breath.

Con looked skeptical but nodded and backed away from Patrick, "make this fast."

Because his brother didn't seem inclined to say anything, Joe stepped toward Patrick, "what do you know about Roman Caudle?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Patrick shrugged eyeing Frank warily, "nothing at all."

"Don't lie, we know you owe him money, is he the one who kidnapped Ashley?" Joe asked angrily.

Patrick's eyes darted between the three men and he looked nervous, "look, I don't want to cause any trouble."

Frank had been staring fixedly out the small prison cell window. At Patrick's words he turned and walked quickly to stand in front of Patrick, his eyes blazing. Both Joe and Con tensed, ready to stop Frank from attacking but Frank didn't touch the man, "you don't want to cause any trouble?" he said his voice dangerously low, "no trouble? Because of you there is a scared little girl out there who's afraid of the dark and my girlfriend is missing!" Frank closed his eyes and let out a slow breath as if to calm himself, "if you don't want to cause any trouble, then you better start talking."

"Okay, okay," Patrick said quickly, "I owe Roman a lot of money and we came up with a way for me to pay it back and for him to make a little extra. I was going to get 5 percent for helping plus all of my debts paid." Patrick closed his eyes, "you don't understand, I had to do it…I owed a lot of money."

"You didn't have to do it, you idiot," Joe said angrily, "you didn't have to help kidnap a little girl, put her through this kind of trauma. You didn't have to make a little girl suffer because you happen to be lousy at cards."

"He promised no one would get hurt!" Patrick cried.

Frank rolled his eyes in disgust, "Joe's right, you are an idiot." Frank ran a hand through his hair. "Where can we find him?"

"I don't know," Patrick replied, "he always contacted me."

"How?" Joe asked.

"He'd call, private number and set up a meeting place." Patrick answered.

"Where did you first meet him? Where did you borrow money from him?" Frank demanded.

"He runs an underground gambling club; it moves locations every few months to keep the cops out. I borrowed money from him to play at his club a few months ago," Patrick shook his head, "I don't know where the club moved to after that."

"Where was the club a few months ago?" Frank said in even tones.

"In the warehouse district, outskirts of New York City…warehouse B1753, I think," Patrick was beginning to sweat, "listen, if they know I've told you this…it won't be good."

"Too bad," Frank said and walked out of the cell with Joe following quickly behind him.

Joe shot an appreciative look at Con, "thanks Con, we'll call you later," he called and hurried to keep up with his brother who was walking quickly up the stairs and out of the building, "Frank!" Joe called, "Frank, come on."

Frank pushed the front doors of the precinct open and took a deep gulp of the fresh air, "it was hard to breathe down there," he murmured to himself.

Joe caught up to him and planted himself in front of Frank, "brother, you have got to get a hold of yourself."

Frank's eyes flashed angrily, "what are you talking about? I have to find Nancy…"

"I know, Frank!" Joe said interrupting his brother. He threw his hands up in frustration, "how am I supposed to handle this? You're usually the one who has to calm _me_ down, not the other way around." Frank started to say something but Joe held up his hand, "don't say anything for a minute. Geez, I need to think."

Frank watched as his brother paced away from him and then came back to stand in front of him, "Frank, I understand completely why you're so worked up. If it was me and it was Vanessa…" Joe's voice trailed off and he shook his head, "I can't even think about that and not get upset." Joe sighed, "I know that the nightmares aren't helping matters either, but you need to calm down. I mean it Frank; we need your level head right now. You're not helping Nancy by storming around barking orders on the verge of a breakdown. Keep in mind Nancy is an FBI agent and as she loves to point out, she did go through Quantico. Twice." Joe swore under his breath, "_I'm_ supposed to be the hotheaded one. _Me_ not you, so stop stealing my thunder."

Frank couldn't help but smile a little as his brother tried to lighten the mood. "You're right Joe, you're absolutely right. I don't know what's happening to me but…I feel so anxious. Like I have to find Nancy _now_…I have to find Ashley _now._"

"I feel the same way, Frank but let's take this one step at a time so we don't miss anything," Joe suggested.

"Well, if your little speech hadn't knocked me out of my funk, that sentence sure would have. Joe Hardy, my brother Joe Hardy suggesting we take one step at a time so we don't miss anything? I never thought I'd see the day," Frank said with a small smile.

"I wouldn't have to say things like that if you wouldn't scare the ever living out of me by pulling some crazy mood switch," Joe grumbled but he was relieved to see some of the old Frank return to his brother's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to be more cool headed and rational from now on," Frank promised.

"And I'll try to be more hot headed and irrational from now on," Joe said clapping his hand of Frank's shoulder, "it works for us bro, let's not mess with a perfect formula."

"I agree," Frank nodded and he and Joe walked down the precinct steps towards the car, "now; I think we need to follow up on that lead Patrick gave us. Check out the location of Roman's last known gambling club."

"Something else we agree on," Joe said and headed towards the drivers side of the car.

"I've cooled down enough now that I think I can handle driving Joe," Frank said holding his hand out for the keys.

"I don't think so," Joe shook his head, "you're looking a little out of control still. Better let me drive to make sure we don't run into anything."

"We may not run into anything but we'll probably get a ticket with how fast you drive," Frank grumbled and pulled open the passenger side door.

"It's better than your five miles under the limit driving, bro. Aunt Gertrude drives faster than you do and she started a petition for the state highways to have their speed limits reduced by 25 mph." Joe chuckled and started the car, "and _that_ is saying something."

"Joe, the perpetual jokester," Frank said with a sigh as he clicked his seat belt in. He groaned when his cell phone rang, "I was pretty rude to Michael. This is probably him, ready to give me an earful about undermining national intelligence."

"Suck it up," Joe suggested wisely, "you kind of deserve it."

"I do not!" Frank said indignantly and looked at the caller ID, "that's weird," he murmured.

"What?" Joe looked over at his brother's confused features.

"Private number," Frank said and then it clicked, _'He'd call, private number and set up a meeting place,' _Patrick had said. "It's Roman," he declared and flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Frank?" It was Nancy and she sounded far away as if she were on speaker phone. Frank could hear crying in the background and a scuffling noise.

"Nancy?" Frank's voice rose in panic. "Nancy are you alright?"

"Stop it! Don't touch her!" Nancy cried and Frank sent his brother a frantic look, "Leave her alone!" Nancy cried and there was a loud thud.

"Nancy!" Frank yelled, "What's going on? Nancy?" but there was no response only more scuffling and thudding sounds. He heard a groan and another louder thud before an out of breath voice spoke into the phone.

"Are you part of that dynamic duo? The Hardy Brothers?" the voice sneered.

"Yes, I'm Frank," he replied.

"We need to talk, Frank."

* * *

**Red, doesn't if feel good to be right about the New York thing? Frank and Nancy need to learn to listen to you more often. :) **


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks to everyone who continues to read my story and thank you for taking the time to review! I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to update in awhile but I sort of lost my motivation sometime last week and I've just recently found it again. :) So, here it is…Chapter 13! Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 13**

Nancy looked up as the door to the room opened. Ashley scrambled backward and huddled beside Nancy as Roman and two of his men quickly entered the room. It couldn't have been clearer that Roman was in way over his head. He was sweating profusely and was moving in quick jerky movements.

"You're a plague," he hissed at Nancy and ran a shaking hand through his hair, "a freaking plague."

"Then let us go," Nancy replied wryly, "then we'll be out of your hair and you won't have to deal with any of this anymore."

"I can't DO that," Roman said with a growl, "if I let you go, you're going to make me pay. I've read all those stories about you. How you never rest until justice is served." He spat, "I hate people like you, all that self righteous bull thinking you're better than everybody."

"I promise that if you let us go _I_ won't come after you," Nancy said trying to sound sincere, _'maybe I won't but the Hardy's and the FBI sure will'_ she added silently in her head.

"What are your promises to me? Huh? I have no reason to trust you!" Roman paced across the room, "and I heard about you and those Hardy brothers. They're just as bad as you are, maybe even worse because they have that damn father!"

Nancy watched as Roman paced, he appeared to be deep in thought. Nancy was used to hardened criminals, people who had no qualms and knew exactly what they were doing. She had little experience with men like Roman who had gotten himself into a very bad situation that he had no idea how to handle.

"Okay, stand up," Roman turned to her. When she didn't move he said again, "stand up!" One of Roman's men came forward and pulled Nancy to her feet. "We're going to call those Hardy kids and…and…" he seemed to be trying to figure out why they were going to call them and what he was going to say. "And you're going to talk to Frank and tell him that you're fine…and…and…"

"So, your plan is to have me stutter at him? Highly effective," Nancy said sarcastically, "anything else?"

"You are so irritating!" Roman cried in frustration, "no, I want you to tell him that you're fine and that you left because…because you don't like him anymore."

"I don't like him anymore? What is this, seventh grade? Check the box if you like me, yes, no or maybe?" Nancy rolled her eyes.

"Stop it! Just stop it," Roman pressed his fingers to his eyes, "you'll tell him that you're fine and that you had to leave for awhile because the…pressure was getting to be too much."

"He won't believe that for a second," Nancy said, "it'd be better if you just let us go, then all of this could go away."

"It won't go away!" with shaking hands Roman pulled out his cell phone, "give me his number," he ordered and Nancy did. Roman put the phone on speaker as it began to ring. One of Roman's men, the one who wasn't gripping Nancy's arm began to leer at Ashley causing her to start crying from fright.

"Stop it, you're scaring her," Nancy hissed. Finally Frank picked up his phone.

"Hello?" he sounded anxious.

"Frank," Nancy said as she kept her eye on the goon who seemed to think it was funny to scare Ashley. He was inching closer to the scared little girl.

"Nancy? Nancy, are you alright?" Frank sounded frantic.

Nancy didn't respond because the goon had lunged at Ashley, "Stop it! Don't touch her!" she cried, "leave her alone!" With a mighty shove she pushed the man holding her off of her, he stumbled back and with a loud thud fell into the door.

"Nancy? What's going on? Nancy?" Frank's voice was distant in Nancy's mind as she lunged forward to protect Ashley. The man who was trying to scare Ashley was laughing as he slowly stalked her into the corner of the room. Nancy rushed forward and kicked him hard in the back. The man groaned and then dropped with a thud.

Just as Nancy regained her balance Roman rushed forward and spun her around, pushing her back into the waiting arms of the thug she had pushed away from herself. "Hold on to her!" he whispered to the man, "you're hired for your muscle, use it."

Roman turned back to his phone and said clearly into the mouthpiece, "Are you part of that dynamic duo? The Hardy Brothers?"

"Yes, I'm Frank," Frank replied.

"We need to talk, Frank." Roman said with a smile.

"Are you okay Ashley?" Nancy asked the little girl. Ashley nodded and then rushed forward to wrap her arms around Nancy's waist, clearly not wanting to let go. The man who had frightened her was still groaning and pulling himself to his feet. He turned to glare at Nancy and Ashley stuck her tongue out at him. Nancy couldn't help but smile; the girl had some fight in her.

"Nancy?" Frank's voice sounded strange and tinny on speakerphone in the small room.

"Yes Frank, I'm here," Nancy replied.

"What was all that noise? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine but there are two thugs here with some wounded pride," Nancy said with a glare at Roman.

"I thought…" Frank's voice trailed off.

"I think Nancy has something to tell you," Roman said and pushed the phone in Nancy's direction.

"Frank, I'm fine and I just wanted to let you know that I left because the pressure got to be too much for me," Nancy recited in a bored voice.

"What?" Frank asked clearly confused.

"The pressure, it was too much," Nancy replied when Roman shot her a look.

"The pressure? What are you talking about?" Frank sighed loudly. "You left here, to go join Roman and his men because the pressure was too much?"

Roman realized then that his plan had been crushed as soon as he had spoken to Frank. He really wasn't any good at this. "No," he said into the phone, trying and failing to think fast. He was used to playing cards and thinking fast as to which ones to play and which cards to sit on for awhile. He wasn't used to this sort of negotiation, "no," he repeated.

"No what?" Frank said. He was starting to get frustrated Nancy could tell but you could still hear the fear in his voice.

"No, we um…were calling to tell you to not try and find Nancy or Ashley," Roman said quickly. Nancy shook her head, was this guy for real?

"So, you have Nancy _and_ Ashley," Frank asked.

Roman's face went blank; he clearly understood that he had made an error, "uh…"

Frank sighed, "listen Roman, it sounds like you're in over your head. Why don't you let Nancy and Ashley go and tell me where I can pick them up, then this whole thing will be over."

"No!" Roman said loudly, not letting Nancy and Ashley go seemed to be the only thing he was sure of. "No, that's not happening because as soon as I let her go she's going to go running off to you guys and then you're going to catch me!"

"That's not necessarily true," Frank hedged, "if you let them go right now, we can forget about this whole mishap."

Nancy resisted, just barely, the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that there was no way Frank would forget about all of this. She could picture him right now on the phone, hand clenched in fury, one of the only ways you could tell Frank was mad. Because thinking of him made her heart ache she deliberately shook the image out of her mind and tuned back into what Roman was saying.

"…it was a mistake to call you," he said into the phone and shook his head. He was making one mistake after another; Nancy knew that it was only a matter of time before he made the mistake that would get her and Ashley out of there.

"Nancy?" Frank said.

"Yes?"

"I love you and I'm going to get you two out of there," he declared.

Nancy smiled, "not if I get out of here first."

Roman howled in frustration and disconnected the call; "you're not going to get out of here!" he walked over to stand directly in front of Nancy. Ashley whimpered and clung to Nancy even tighter. "You're not getting out of here," he pointed his finger in her face, "you're not going to! I don't know how to handle this, but my brother will."

Roman turned and walked across the room, "I'll just give my brother a call and see what he thinks about all of this. Are you familiar with the Schott-Reynolds case?"

Nancy's eyes widened in horror and the two men walked past Roman to stand in the hallway. The Schott-Reynolds case was a world renowned case that had never been solved involving the vicious rape and murder of two women and their entire families. Speculation said that the women had been targeted because they had turned down the killer's advances at the bar they both worked at.

"I see that you are familiar with the case," Roman said gleefully, "let's just say that my brother is too." With that he left the room looking happier and more carefree than Nancy had ever seen him.

* * *

Frank frowned down at his phone as he closed it and returned it to his pocket. "What," Joe asked in amazement, "was that?" Frank quickly explained what had happened on Nancy's side of the phone call. "What?" Joe glanced at his brother as he pulled into his apartment building's parking lot, "that's unlike any conversation we have ever had with someone we are trying to track down."

"I know," Frank agreed in frustration, "I'm even more worried now than I was before the phone call. You'd think I would feel reassured to know that we're dealing with someone so inept, but I'm not. I have this horrible gut feeling. I think we need to find out more about Roman Caudle and find them as soon as possible."

"Let's go upstairs," Joe suggested and the brothers climbed out of the car and headed up to Joe's apartment.

As soon as they got inside Frank pulled out his laptop and turned it on. A few minutes later Frank was searching through pages and pages of information. "Looks like Roman was busy in Chicago, most of his criminal charges come from when he was living there."

"What kind of charges?" Joe asked

"Theft, assault, general meanness," Frank scanned the pages, "looks like he ran around with a group of friends, called themselves the Vultures."

"The Vultures? Are you serious?" Joe asked and pulled the computer over, "let me see that." He quickly read the passage and let out a chuckle, "no way, they really called themselves the Vultures."

"Yeah," Frank shrugged, "looks like they were aptly named. They seemed to prey on the weak and downtrodden." Frank shook his head in disgust, "in one instance they robbed a grandmother while she was in her own home. She didn't realize anything was missing for two days."

"Classy," Joe murmured.

Frank nodded his head in agreement and clicked on an external link for a magazine article. "Group of Friends Opens Pizza Place," Frank read out loud. There was a picture underneath the headline showing a group of six men standing in front of a brick building; the sign behind them read Brothers Pizza. Frank recognized one of the men right away as Roman Caudle. Frank skimmed the article and then gasped, "no way." He scrolled back up to the picture and leaned forward to get a closer look.

"What?" Joe asked looking over Frank's shoulder at the article and picture.

"I don't believe it," Frank said.

"Believe what!" Joe said in frustration as he read the article, trying to figure out what had Frank so shocked.

"Chicago has a new eatery," Frank began to read, "six friends have come together to make a dream come true. Roman Caudle, Eric O'Reilly, Charles and Robert Drew, William Short and Greg Atkinson have all been friends since they were kids, "we're more like brothers," Roman said on opening day of the new pizza place, Brothers Pizza." Frank leaned back and looked at Joe, waiting for his reaction.

Joe didn't understand, "Okay, so he and his friends opened up a pizzeria." Joe shrugged and leaned forward to click back to the police information, "it says here that they used the place as a front for their 'operations'…they got all mixed up with the mob."

"Joe," Frank leaned forward and clicked back to the article. "Did you hear anything I said?"

"I did," Joe replied "but I don't know how this information is going to help us. Unless Roman has Nancy and Ashley in the back of that pizza place, who cares?"

"Joe, I met two of these men just last week." Frank said.

"What? You did?" Joe was confused.

"_Yes_," Frank replied, "Listen again, 'Roman Caudle, Eric O'Reilly, Charles and Robert Drew, William Short and Greg Atkinson."

"Frank, just _tell _me!" Joe threw up his hands in frustration.

"I met two of these men at Nancy's family reunion last week," Frank replied and watched as comprehension dawned on Joe's face, "exactly." Frank said nodding his head, "Charles and Robert Drew are actually Uncle Chuck and Uncle Bob."

"Whoa," Joe said stunned.

"Exactly," Frank agreed, "whoa."

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thank you to Red, ukfan101, whitetigers, cheekagirl123, Diamond and Stars, happyhorseback, franknjoe, Cherylann Rivers, Leila91, Polairs'05, MissMe113 and anyone I may have missed for all of your great reviews. I say it all the time, but I'm going to say it again…your reviews really make my day! So, thank you! And thanks to everyone who's reading, I really appreciate it and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 14**

"Is Nancy okay?" Vanessa asked Joe the moment she walked into their apartment. She closed the door behind her and walked over to give Joe a quick kiss, "is she alright?"

Joe wrapped his arms around Vanessa's waist and nodded, "yes, she's alright." Joe assured her.

Vanessa shook her head in amazement, "you three sure do have a way of attracting trouble."

"Yes," Joe smiled at the amazing woman standing in front of him and his heart swelled with love for her, "we sure do."

"So, this…this…Candle guy has her?" Vanessa worried her bottom lip.

"Caudle and yeah, we just had a major breakthrough," Joe explained Roman's connection to Nancy's uncles, "Frank is out on the deck right now talking to Carson, Nancy's father."

"Wait, her uncles are part of Team Bad Guy?" Vanessa eyes grew huge, "no way."

"Well, they were when they were younger, that much we know for sure. According to Nancy its family legend that her two uncles were involved in the mob back in Chicago." Joe leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Vanessa's temple.

"Who knew Nancy had ex-criminals in her family, I thought they were all squeaky clean," Vanessa shook her head in disbelief.

"Me too," Joe nodded in agreement. Vanessa looked away quickly and then glanced back at Joe, looking guilty, "what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing…" Vanessa's voice trailed off and she took a deep breath, "it's just, I know this is a really bad time and everything but…"

"What? What is it?" Joe asked feeling concerned.

Vanessa decided to just get it all out and so she took a deep breath and said in a rush, "remember how you said I could have that Vera Wang dress I loved so much? Well, it's on sale starting tomorrow and my mom and I were going to go into the city early so we could be sure to get it and..."

Joe held up a hand to cut her off. He watched in amusement as she finally took a deep breath and watched him expectantly. "I seem to remember that there was one condition involving that Vera Wong dress."

"Wang, Joe…its Wang," Vanessa giggled a little, "and what condition? I don't remember any condition."

"Oh yes you do, don't play innocent with me Ms. Bender," Joe tickled her sides and had her laughing.

"I don't remember!" she cried in between bouts of laughter.

"Yes you do!" Joe said with an evil smile and tickled her again.

"Fine, I remember, I remember!" Vanessa laughed and looked into the laughing blue eyes of the man she loved, "but you can't have one."

Joe pushed out his bottom lip, "why not?"

Vanessa laughed, "Why can't you have a top secret FBI helicopter?"

"Yeah, we could put it on the roof and I could fly to work faster than Frank every morning," Joe said hopefully.

"Babe, I don't think they sell those down at Fred Meyer," Vanessa said with a solemn shake of her head, "but if they did, I'd let you have one, because I love you and would let you have anything you wanted as long as it made you happy…"

Joe's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "you're trying to get me to agree to the Vang Wara dress aren't you?"

Vanessa threw her head back and laughed, she couldn't help it, she placed both of her hands on Joe's cheeks and leaned in to give him a smacking kiss, "you are the most adorable man alive. I love you."

"I love you too," Joe said with a smile and returned the kiss.

"So, do I get to have a really fun time with my mom while buying the wedding dress of my dreams?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

"Who am I to deny you happiness?" Joe said with a smile and Vanessa let out a cry of delight and threw her arms around Joe.

"Yes! You won't regret it, believe me. I'm going to look beyond fabulous in that dress." She kissed him and then dashed toward the hallway, "I've got to call my mother."

"How much does this thing cost anyway?" Joe called as Vanessa ran down the hallway to the bedroom.

"Oh honey, its better that you don't know the answer to that," Vanessa called from the bedroom. "Just remember when you get the bill that you love me lots."

Joe groaned and let his head fall into his hands; this wedding business was serious stuff.

Outside on the porch Frank waited nervously for Carson Drew to answer and leaned against the railing. A few moments later he answered, "Carson Drew."

"Mr. Drew, sir it's Frank Hardy," Frank felt his palms begin to sweat, "I know I should have called you as soon as it happened but…"

"Have you found anything about Nancy? Where is she? Is she okay?" Carson interrupted.

"You know already?" Frank asked confused.

"You forget that your father and I are pretty close friends Frank. Now, tell me about my daughter." Carson requested.

Frank took a deep breath and silently thanked his father for calling Carson; he hadn't known how he was going to tell the father of the woman he loved that he had failed both him and her, that he had failed to protect her. He relayed everything he knew to the worried father but paused when he reached the part about Nancy's uncles. "Well, sir…" Frank began, unsure of how to broach the subject. "I found this newspaper article about a pizza place in Chicago that Roman had a hand in starting…"

"Wait a minute, Roman Caudle?" Carson interjected, "I remember Roman Caudle, pimply faced kid right?"

Frank was amazed at the man's sharp memory and lightening fast thought processes, he and Nancy were amazingly similar, "well, he's grown up some."

"He used to hang around my brothers, they got into some awful trouble together," Carson said with regret in his voice. "Being the older brother I should have watched out for them, but I was off in college when they were just getting into all of their mischief."

"Well, Roman has your daughter now. You don't think that your brothers are still…" Frank trailed off, unsure of how he could ask Nancy's father if he thought his brothers were still up to their old tricks.

"No," Carson said simply and without any heat, "they're not. They changed a long time ago. They haven't talked to their old friends from the neighborhood in years because they wanted out. If I remember correctly, it was shortly after they opened the pizza place that Charles and Robert decided to sever ties. Roman and the other boys had finally done something they couldn't stomach and that's when they moved to California."

"Sir, I think that they might be able to help us find Nancy," Frank pushed himself up off the rail.

"I think so too, let me call them and see if I can get any information out them, this isn't a period of their lives they like to talk about," Carson sighed, "they thought they'd left this behind a long time ago."

"Thank you," Frank said sincerely, "sir, I love your daughter and, and I'm so sorry I let this happen. That I couldn't protect her," Frank's voice was laced with misery and regret.

"Now son, you listen to me, Nancy is a strong girl who can usually take care of herself. This is not your fault and the more you blame yourself the less help you're going to be to my daughter," Carson softened his voice, "I know you care about my daughter, I'm counting on you to bring her home safe."

"I will, sir," Frank promised.

"Good," Carson's voice sounded scared all of a sudden, "and Frank, the people my brothers used to hang out with, well, they're not good men. They're a lot worse than they were when my brothers knew them. One of them in particular, he's been a suspect in a pretty gruesome case for some time now but they haven't been able to peg him down for it, not enough evidence."

Frank felt his stomach give a nervous jolt, "which case?" _Did he want to know?_

"The Schott-Reynolds case," Carson responded and the air surrounding Frank was suddenly thick with fear for Nancy and Ashley

"Oh," was all Frank was able to manage.

"Yes," Carson said, "these boys were all very close, they called each other 'brother', even did a blood brother ritual when they were younger. The men who stayed in the criminal lifestyle have only become closer over time. Now, Roman as I remember has always been the slower, not as intelligent one of the group, so as long as you're dealing with him you can probably outwit him. Now, as soon as one of his brothers is involved, you're going to have to move quickly."

"I understand," Frank's throat was suddenly dry as he mentally went over everything he knew about the Schott-Reynolds case. He groaned and almost smacked himself in the head; he couldn't believe he hadn't made the connection as soon as he read the name, "Greg Atkinson," he said, "Greg Atkinson has been the number one suspect on that case for years."

"Yes," Carson replied, "he has." Carson cleared his throat and his voice was suddenly brisk and professional, "I'll contact my brothers and see what they know or how they can help. Expect my call shortly."

"Alright, thank you," Frank said good bye and hung up his phone. Almost as soon as he had hung up the phone rang again. Frowning down at it, he answered, "hello?"

"Frank, its Michael," Nancy's partner sounded excited.

"What's going on?" Frank asked.

"We have a lead; we think we know where they're holding Nancy and Ashley."

* * *

"We were able to track down the location of Roman's last club," Michael explained to the two Hardy's. They were all in the car on their way to the warehouse and Joe had to bite his cheek to keep from smiling. He and Frank had found out the location of the club hours ago, a lot faster than the FBI. It felt good to know that they had been able to pull something off faster than the famed intelligence group.

"Where at?" Frank asked even though he already knew.

"A few miles from Robert Shoemaker's home," Michael responded. "We have a witness stating that they saw Roman entering the warehouse along with a few other men he's known to hang around with yesterday. We think this is where Nancy and Ashley are being held."

'_Okay,'_ Joe admitted grudgingly in his head, _'we didn't know _that_, but we did know the location of his last club.'_

"We're all set to meet there soon." Michael checked his watch and shot a hard look at the two brothers, "I called you as a courtesy, as fellow detectives and as Nancy's friends, don't make me regret that."

"How would we do that?" Frank asked indignantly.

"Don't forget that this is still an FBI matter, you'll do as we say. If we tell you to get out of the way, you do it," Michael ordered.

"Yeah, right," Joe scoffed and Frank sent him a warning look that clearly said, _'I agree with you, but they don't have to know that.'_

"You'll do it," Michael commanded, "because it could mean the difference between Nancy and Ashley's safety and a horrible accident."

A frustrated and angry silence filled the car for the rest of the ride. Each man had his own reasons for wanting to find Nancy and Ashley and return them safely home. Michael was desperate to find his partner and return the little girl to her father safe. Partners who risked their lives together routinely had a special bond that could hardly be explained or defined. He shared more of his secrets and fears with Nancy then he did with almost anyone else.

Frank was desperate to find Nancy and Ashley for too many reasons to count. The easiest and most clear reason was that he needed to find and protect the woman he loved and his base instinct was to protect the innocent Ashley. Underneath those first strong emotions were the underlying dregs of the nightmares and his and Joe's past blurring with the present.

Joe had become even closer to Nancy over the last eight months than he had been before she and his brother had begun dating. He enjoyed her company and was beginning to think of her as part of the family, as his sister. Because he knew how much this was eating away at his brother he wanted to find Nancy and Ashley as quickly as possible, not only for their safety but for the sanity of his brother.

The combination of each man's separate thoughts and needs made for a very tense car ride.

The car careened around a corner and Michael stomped on the brakes, "Geez," Frank grumbled, "a man after your own heart, Joe."

They all climbed out of the car and Michael put up his arms to stop Frank and Joe from running past him, "now, I know you guys aren't bound by the ropes of procedure, but we are."

"Yeah but…" Joe began but Michael quickly interjected.

"You're working with the FBI, procedure has to be followed," Michael let his arms fall to his sides when it appeared that he had the brother's attention. "Now, we're surrounding the building on all sides, we don't want our presence known right away. You'll come with me through that side door there," he pointed to the warehouse in the distance and a door in the side of the building. "You'll stay with me and do as I say."

"Sure thing boss," Joe said, "let's stop talking and get moving already."

"Okay," Michael glanced down at his watch, "it's time." He turned and moved quickly toward the door they were supposed to enter. They stood and waited a moment for two other agents to join them and Frank frowned, he thought he had heard a thumping noise. He looked around and up at the windows in the building but could see nothing. Michael reached out and tried the door handle, his eyebrows rose as the handle moved easily. They entered the warehouse and what appeared to be an underground parking garage.

A row of elevators stood at the opposite side of the warehouse and the group looked around for any signs of danger. A few other agents had just gained access through a locked door on the other side of the room. A few of the agents took the stairs, including Michael, Joe and Frank while the others climbed into the elevators.

Frank concentrated on sprinting up the stairs, his adrenaline pumping. Nancy and Ashley were close, he could feel it. They opened the door to the first floor slowly and as quietly as possible but there was still an ominous creaking sound as the door protested on its hinges.

"Spread out," Michael ordered the other agents. He pointed them down the hallway and then motioned for Frank and Joe to follow him the other way. They crept along the dark, dank hallway with its bare bulbs swaying slightly from some unknown breeze.

They quickly and efficiently checked every room as they moved down the hallway and Frank could feel his disappointment and anxiety building with each empty room they came across. Michael stopped in the middle of the hallway and motioned for Frank and Joe to do the same. Frank strained his ears, trying to hear what had made Michael stop.

He heard a distant scraping sound and froze; there was definitely someone close by.

* * *

Nancy opened her gritty eyes and looked around the dark room, sweat was pouring down her back, the room was so muggy and she reached her hands up to rub her eyes clear. She glanced at Ashley to make sure the girl still slept and got quickly to her feet. What was that noise? There had been no sound out of Roman and his men since Roman had left the room a few hours ago high on his most recent threat.

Nancy shuddered at the thought of Greg Atkinson and the heinous crimes he was sure to have committed. The lack of evidence had made it impossible to convict him, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he had been responsible for the rape and murder of two women before killing both of their families. Nancy sincerely hoped that this wasn't the 'brother' Roman had boasted about.

She paused again when she heard another noise; even though it was distant Nancy was sure that it was man made. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart so she could hear clearly. _'There!_' Nancy thought triumphantly, _'its coming from outside!'_ she rushed over to the window and looked down into the alley way separating one warehouse from the other. Her breath caught when she saw three dark figures approaching the warehouse. One of the figures faces was illuminated for a quick moment by the light of the dim street lamp and her heart soared, _'Frank!'_ her mind screamed, _'he's found us!'_

The figures stood waiting for a minute before they were joined by two more and Nancy tried to get her hand through the bars to pound on the glass. Her hand hurt from the awkward position she had to put it in but she pounded on the glass as hard as she could. "Frank!" she yelled loudly, "Frank!"

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks for all of your amazing reviews and for reading my story! Also, please…please…don't be too upset with me for what I am about to do. :) Dun, dun, DUN!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 15**

"Frank!" Nancy yelled loudly, "Frank!" She pounded even harder on the thick glass and yelled again, "FRANK!" She knew it was probably risky to be so loud, to attract Roman and his men's attention, but if help was on the way she knew it was a risk she had to take.

Ashley began to wake up and blinked sleepy eyes up at her, "Nancy?" she asked.

"It's okay Ashley," Nancy quickly reassured the girl and looked back out the window. Her heart froze when she noticed the five figures entering _the wrong warehouse._ "FRANK! JOE!" She pounded on the window until her hand went numb, screaming their names over and over again.

Frank had found her, just as he had promised but he wasn't looking in the right place, he had just gone in to the warehouse on the opposite corner from the warehouse Nancy and Ashley were being held in. Nancy couldn't believe it, rescue was so close and yet she knew that it had just slipped through her fingertips. She pressed her forehead against the bars in the window and stared at the door the rescue party had gone through. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as Ashley got up and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Are Frank and Joe coming for us?" the little girl asked hopefully.

Nancy didn't have the heart to answer the little girl so she settled on wrapping her arm protectively around her, never tearing her eyes away from the wrong door, the wrong warehouse, the wrong side of the street.

* * *

Frank looked at Joe as another scraping sound came from the end of the hall. All three men rushed forward and flanked either side of the door the sound was coming from. Michael reached forward and turned the door handle, the door swung open easily.

Frank and Joe rushed into the small cramped room; a small mattress and a dirty blanket the only pieces of furniture. A man in filthy clothes and a long beard was trying to get out of the small window in the room, "don't shoot!" he cried.

"What?" Frank was shocked; he had thought for sure Nancy and Ashley would be in this room. The disappointment weighed heavily down on him and he stepped slowly back into the hallway.

"I was just sleeping here," the man called out, "no harm in that right? Don't arrest me!"

Joe went back out into the hallway with his brother, leaving Michael to deal with the squatter, "I'm so sorry, Frank."

"It's not over," Frank said vehemently, "they could still be here." Even as he said it, he knew it wasn't true. A few moments later Michael confirmed the news: all clear. Frank cursed under his breath and ran back down the hallway, double checking the rooms they had already gone through.

He ran quickly down the stairs and burst back out into the underground parking garage. "I was so sure they were here," he said to no one in particular.

Joe came up behind his brother and placed his hand on Frank's rigid shoulder, "we'll find her, Frank. We will."

Frank turned slowly to look at his brother, his eyes searching to find the truth behind the words, "are you sure?" he whispered.

"Yes Frank, I'm sure," Joe's brow creased in worry, he had never seen his brother look so defeated.

"I thought for sure…" his voice trailed off. He whirled on Michael who came out of the stairwell, looking just as disheartened as they felt. "You told me this is where they would be!" Frank accused.

"I told you we thought they _might_ be here," Michael reminded him. "It was never a guarantee."

Frank growled in frustration and turned away from the agent. He plowed his hands through his hair and fought to clear his head. He didn't like this haze brought on by fear and uselessness that he had been feeling since Nancy had been kidnapped. It had been there upon learning that Ashley had been taken, but Nancy had been with him, there to smooth out his rougher edges. The haze in his mind was making it hard to think and he hated that. He always wanted to be in complete control, if you weren't you made mistakes.

Joe came to stand in front of his brother and laid both hands on his shoulders, "listen to me Frank." Some of the haze seemed to leave his addled brain, "What should we do next?" Frank looked at his brother, thought about the question and suddenly his mind began to clear.

"I think…" he shook his head as if to get rid of the cobwebs. He turned to one of the agents, "I think we should check the other warehouses."

"But our intelligence told us it was this warehouse, there is evidence on the first floor that there was a club here," the agent replied with a frown.

"Maybe your intelligence was wrong!" Frank answered angrily. The agent looked thoroughly baffled at the very idea.

"Frank," Michael stepped forward, "There are a lot of warehouses here; it would take a long time to search them all."

"So?" Frank asked defiantly, "search them all anyway."

"Frank, we don't have the man power…" Michael began regretfully.

"Then get the manpower!" Frank finally exploded. Joe was shocked to see his brother actually yelling at someone, Frank hardly ever yelled. "We can't just leave!"

"We can't check every warehouse either," Michael shrugged. "There's no doubt that this _is_ the building Roman used for his club and he's not here. We were misinformed, that can happen sometimes."

"What about the witness you have that says he saw Roman coming into this building?" Joe asked hopefully, "couldn't you contact him and make sure he was talking about this building in particular."

"The witness was pretty clear," Michael began, "and he was anonymous. He called the tip into the local police department. Apparently he had seen Roman's picture on some crime show on TV, figured he'd be wanted for something so he called it in."

"So, there's nothing we can do?" Frank asked a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"No, I'm afraid not. Now all we can do is go home, try and get some rest and start again tomorrow," Michael replied.

"You want me to get some rest?" Frank sounded incredulous. "You want me to try and get some rest?" he repeated. He didn't wait for a response; he just turned and walked away from the group of agents. He had often wondered if he had made the right decision, turning down the FBI's offer to join the agency so many years ago. Now, seeing how bound by procedure and protocol they were, he didn't doubt his decision for one minute.

Joe walked alongside his brother, "what next?"

"We follow up on our own lead," Frank replied.

"Nancy's uncles," Joe said with a nod of his head.

"Exactly," Frank pushed open the door that led out into the alleyway and shared a look with his brother, "I told Nancy _I_ was going to find her. I'm done following false leads from the FBI."

"I'm with you, brother," Joe agreed, "let's fight the system."

* * *

Roman sat in his makeshift office, he hated the place. It was all dark and dreary and was currently trying to suffocate him to death. He had been having a hard time breathing ever since he had learned who Nancy was. Sweat poured down his back, even though it was a relatively cool summer night it was sweltering in the old warehouse.

He was waiting for his brother to call him back. He hated that he had to leave messages for Greg but was always waiting eagerly by the phone when Greg finally called him back. It significantly lowered his importance level.

He also hated that he had been forced to call Greg, the only one out of all of them who had actually made something of himself, done something so huge he had made national headlines. All Roman had every accomplished was running an underground gambling casino in the crumbling warehouse districts of several major cities.

Roman stood up quickly and paced his office, trying not to let the panic overtake him. He couldn't believe how unbelievably stressed out he was. Not even that time in Tokyo, when he had been trying to work one over on the biggest crime boss in Asia and his life was literally on the line, had he been so nervous. He blinked, he couldn't even see straight.

The phone on his desk rang and he all but pounced on it. He caught himself just in time, wanting to let it ring at least a little before he answered it. He didn't want it to look like he had been waiting by the phone, which was exactly what he had been doing. He let the phone ring once and in the middle of the second ring he couldn't stand it any longer; he answered.

"Hello?" he tried not to sound as breathless as he felt. He knew his brother thought he was something of an idiot.

"Roman! How are you, brother?" Greg's voice was polished and important sounding. Roman felt like he sounded whiny and childish whenever he spoke to his brother.

"Not good, Greg, not good at all," Roman tried hard not to whine.

"What trouble have you gotten yourself in this time baby brother?" Greg sounded extremely bored.

Roman tried not to wince at the term 'baby brother' and sat down behind his old metal desk, "Greg, I need some help." He took a deep breath and began to tell his brother the whole story, the whole awful mess.

"Nancy Drew and the Hardy brothers?" Greg let out a low whistle, "that really is a mess."

"You gotta help me!" Roman said desperately, "I don't know how to deal with this."

"I don't know Roman, I'm convinced that the only reason why I'm still walking free is the simple fact that the Hardy's haven't gotten it into their do-gooder heads to track down the evidence they need to put me in jail." Greg paused and Roman wiped at the sweat pouring down his forehead, "It would have to be worth my while, brother."

"Anything, just get me out of this mess," Roman pleaded.

"I'll have to think about it," Greg replied lazily.

"Greg! I need your help _now_! I told them that I needed the money for the girl by tomorrow and…" Roman's voice trailed off, he was dangerously close to stuttering.

"That was your mistake," Greg replied simply. There was a pause before Greg sighed, "well, I'm on vacation right now with most beautiful group of women…but we _are_ brothers." He paused again, "I'll help you."

"Oh, thank you…thank you!" Roman cried completely overcome.

"I won't get there until Saturday, not sure when…so you'll have to call and rescind your threat or something," Greg chuckled at the thought, "imagine, a kidnapper extending his deadline. I kinda wish I was going to be there to hear that phone call."

Before Roman could comment one of his men burst into the room, "boss, the FBI is here."

"What?" Panic swelled into Roman's throat, effectively cutting off his air supply. "Here?" he choked out.

"No, at the old club, the warehouse across the street," the thug replied with a shrug. "That girl's making a lot of noise trying to get their attention."

Greg, having heard the conversation let out a roar of laughter, "do you surround yourself with idiots to make yourself feel smarter Roman?"

"No, I…no. What should I do?" Roman pleaded.

Greg, in just as bored a tone as he had been using throughout the whole conversation replied, "well, they're not at the right warehouse so don't die of panic yet baby brother. I suggest you shut that girl up, move her to one of the rooms in the middle of the building without any windows."

"Okay, okay…" Roman gave the order to his guard, "what else."

"Tie her up to something, just for good measure," Greg chuckled as Roman relayed the message to his departing man.

"We should leave, shouldn't we? We could sneak out the back," Roman's eyes darted around the room as if the FBI were going to come storming in at any minute.

"No, you shouldn't…you'll stay where you are." Greg ordered.

"I'll what?" Roman asked incredulously, "but they're so close! I have to…"

Greg cut him off, "they're close, but they obviously messed up. You'll stay where you are until I get there on Saturday."

"O-O-Okay," Roman stuttered.

"And for God's sake, be careful when leaving that place, huh? Do remember that even though you surround yourself with filth and garbage, other people _can_ see you."

"Alright, okay…" Roman was shaking so badly he could barely hold the phone to his ear.

"I'll see you soon, try not to do anything stupid until I get there," Greg said and sighed dramatically, "the things I'm willing to do for my brothers."

"Thank you, Greg…thank you…" but the phone went dead in Roman's hand. He hung up and placed the phone back on his desk with trembling fingers. He was starting to feel calm, more in control, knowing that his brother was on his way.

The fact that the FBI was right outside kept his hands shaking.

* * *

Nancy's heart leapt into her throat when she saw the door on the wrong warehouse swing open. She could clearly see Frank's tortured face followed by Joe's extremely worried one. She recognized a few agents from the FBI that followed the brothers outside. She brought her handcuffed hands back up to the window and pounded furiously on it between the bars.

"FRANK!" she yelled as loud as she could, "JOE!" Her instincts told her that they were too far away to hear her and that it was hopeless, but she couldn't help herself. Not with Ashley clinging to her so desperately and not when help was just across the street.

Nancy continued yelling and her cries only got louder and more desperate at the sound of the door opening behind her. Ashley clung even tighter to Nancy's middle as Nancy was yanked away from the window.

"You have to be quiet now," one of Roman's thugs ordered her. He pulled her out of the room and Ashley was grabbed by the second thug and led out behind them.

"What's your name?" Nancy asked desperately.

The thug frowned, "Lars."

"Okay Lars, why don't you let me and Ashley go?" Nancy said with a smile as he led her down the hallway.

"I can't do that, the boss wants you to stay here," Lars said in his deep voice.

"I could work out a deal for you," Nancy tried again.

"No," Lars responded and pushed her into another room. This room had no windows and there was a desk and chair sitting in the middle. The desk was bolted to the ground. "Sit," he ordered and motioned for Nancy to sit on the ground. She sat down obediently beside the desk.

Lars took one of the cuffs off her wrist and he seemed to pause when he saw the raw skin there. Nancy pounced on the look of concern on his face, "Lars, you can do the right thing. Let Ashley and I go."

Lars simply shook his head and handcuffed Nancy to the desk leg. He and the other man left the room and returned a few minutes later carting the mattress, blanket and pillow from the old room.

'_Maybe Frank and Joe will check the surrounding warehouses,'_ Nancy thought desperately. She tried not to think about how unlikely that would be, especially if they were working with the FBI. If the FBI had received a tip about that specific warehouse and she and Ashley weren't in it, they wouldn't waste their time checking every other warehouse in the area. It would take too many hours of searching and too much man power.

No, she knew the agency she had pledged her allegiance to, she thought bitterly and if there was one thing about the FBI that she was sure of, they didn't waste time where they didn't think they needed to.

She knew that by now Frank and Joe were probably on their way back to Bayport to regroup, hopefully without the FBI holding them back. The thought that help was driving _away _from her had the small room with no windows start to close in around her. She had to hold on to some shred of hope, that the Hardy's would come up with something else and would be able to find her and Ashley. The little girl climbed into her lap and Nancy wrapped her free arm around her.

Frank had promised that he would find her and she believed him. It was with that encouraging thought that Nancy was able to lean her head back against the desk and close her eyes, giving in to sheer exhaustion.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry for my absence. As always, thanks a ton to everyone for reading and reviewing, I love to hear your thoughts. Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 16**

Joe rubbed at his gritty eyes and blinked at the blurry clock on his bedside table. He groaned at the time _'why did I wake up?'_ Joe thought grumpily to himself. He gently extricated himself from Vanessa's arms and slid out of bed.

Following his instincts Joe crept silently out of his bedroom, careful not to wake Vanessa and walked slowly down the hallway, stifling a yawn as he went. He paused at the edge of the living room and sighed. This was why he had woken up. Frank sat on the couch, the pillow that had been meant for him to sleep on had fallen to the floor and the blanket lay in a twisted heap beside him.

Frank's hair stood up on end, as if he had been running his hands through it in frustration. His eyes were red and puffy, bloodshot from lack of sleep. He was staring fixedly at his computer screen.

Without a word Joe sat down next to his brother on the couch, "what are you reading?" he asked after a few silent moments.

"Police reports on the Schott-Reynolds case," Frank murmured.

"Oh," the lump of sick hot worry settled more firmly in Joe's gut. "Have you found anything?"

"No," Frank responded still staring at the screen and continued scrolling through pages and pages of information.

"Have you slept at all?" Joe asked quietly.

Finally Frank tore his gaze away from the screen and turned tired eyes on his brother, "not really." He looked back at the computer and continued in a slow voice, "I guess I fell asleep around midnight." He clicked on a different link, "but then the nightmare returned. Only this time, it was worse."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Joe asked wanting so badly to help his brother but unsure of what to do for him.

"No," Frank answered a little too quickly and sighed and glanced at his brother again, "sorry," he said miserably, "I just can't talk about it right now. It makes it worse, more real."

"Frank, you don't need to apologize. I'm here for you," Joe said sincerely. He stood up, "do you want a Coke?"

Frank smiled thinly, "aren't you going back to bed?"

"Doesn't look like it," Joe replied simply, "so, do you want a Coke or not?"

"Yeah, I'll take one," Frank said and turned his attention back to his computer.

Joe returned a few moments later and offered Frank an open can, "you should really be trying to sleep, Frank."

Frank let out a hollow laugh, "and how do you expect me to sleep, Joe? The woman I love is missing and is in serious trouble if this Greg Atkinson shows up. I can't sleep knowing that while I am I'll be doing nothing."

Joe nodded in agreement, "I hear you brother." He took a contemplative sip of his Coke and sighed, "I wonder, between the three of us, how many times we've been kidnapped, held hostage, taken prisoner," he took another long sip of his drink, "we should contact the Guinness World Records people, we could be famous."

"I think being famous is part of the problem," Frank grumbled. He knew what his brother was trying to do, lighten the mood and take his mind off brooding and he appreciated it. He had never been a good brooder, which was why he was always burying himself in facts and figures. Knowledge you could control, panic was something you couldn't control and more often than not, couldn't afford.

"Carson never called?" Joe asked.

"No," Frank replied with a weary shake of his head. "I called; Hannah told me that he would call me back as soon as he could."

"He must be trying to convince his brothers to help," Joe replied.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Frank replied with anger in his voice, "she's their niece."

"You talked to Carson pretty late last night, and her uncles live in California, there's a time difference to take into account here," Joe drained the rest of his soda.

Frank only grunted, not willing to admit that Joe was probably right. They sat like that, in silence reading any and all information Frank could find on Greg Atkinson, Roman and their 'brothers' until the faint light of dawn began to creep into the living room.

Joe crushed the empty can from his second can of Coke and stretched, "I'm hungry," he announced to no one in particular.

Frank leaned back and shut his burning eyes; he didn't think he could handle reading one more gruesome report outlining the vicious rape and murder of innocent victims.

"Hey," Vanessa said with a yawn as she walked out of the bedroom, "you guys are up early…or late, whichever." She walked over and sat on Joe's lap.

"Early for me, late for Frank," Joe replied and gave Vanessa a good morning kiss.

"Ew," Vanessa said laughing, "the deadly morning combination: morning breath and stubble."

Joe pretended to look insulted, "your breath isn't exactly a walk through a field of wildflowers either, babe."

"Yeah, but I'll bet its better than a walk through sewage…" Joe cut Vanessa off by kissing her again. "Hmm…she said and closed her eyes, "I take it back. Kiss me again."

Joe happily obliged before Vanessa hopped off of his lap, "well, I've got to get ready!" she announced.

"For what?" Joe cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

Vanessa gasped, "Are you serious? Today is the day, the day when all of my dreams come true. Today my mom and I are going into the city to buy the wedding dress of my dreams! How can you not remember?" Vanessa put her hands on her hips and tried to look angry. She didn't last very long, she was soon smiling and shaking her head, "I forgot who I'm talking to."

Vanessa took in Frank's haggard appearance and smiled at him. She leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of his head. She gripped his face in her hands and whispered, "You'll find her Frank. I know you will and she knows you will."

"Thanks," Frank replied and tried to smile. He had watched the entire scene between his brother and the woman he loved and couldn't help but feel enormously happy for both of them and yet, there was a small, very human part of him who felt bitter. That they should be so happy and content while he was feeling so miserable.

Half an hour later Vanessa left in a blur of excitement and hurried kisses and hugs goodbye for the brothers, "wish me luck!" she cried happily.

"Good luck," Frank called out, "and try to spend as much of my brother's money as you possibly can."

"Oh, I plan to," Vanessa said with a laugh and quickly shut the apartment door behind her.

"You don't have to encourage her," Joe grumbled.

"I'm your brother, it's my job," Frank replied simply and stood up to stretch. "I'm going to grab a quick shower."

"Sounds good, I'll be here," Joe replied and reached forward for the remote control. Turning on the TV he settled back to wait. He sighed in disgust nothing but news, infomercials and cartoons this early in the morning. Joe said a silent prayer to the god of sports for creating ESPN, twenty-four hour sports sent from above for just such occasions as this.

It may have been a documentary about the top five golf players in history, but it was still sports and so Joe settled in happily to wait for his brother.

Frank's phone rang, startling Joe. He was all set to ignore it when he realized it could be Carson or Nancy…or Roman. He leaned forward and without checking the caller ID answered, "Hello?"

"Frank Hardy? This is Linda from Bayport Realty. How are you this morning?" a cheerful voice responded.

"Um, I'm good but this isn't…" Joe tried to explain but Linda cut him off.

"I'm so sorry to call you so early, but I just had to tell you the news," Linda paused for dramatic effect. "Your offer has been accepted. Congratulations, you are the proud new owner of the house on Cherrywood Drive!"

"Well," Joe was at a loss, how exciting this was for Frank and Nancy.

"I'll need you to come down to the office, paperwork and things like that. We need to get things in line at the bank..." Linda chirped happily on as the phone beeped, signaling a new call coming through.

This time it was Joe's turn to interrupt Linda, "excuse me, thanks so much for the news. I'm so excited. I'll be in as soon as possible, but I have to run."

"Oh, okay," Linda sounded thoroughly let down, "it will have to be soon."

"I understand," Joe thought quickly as the phone continued to beep in his ear, "um, I'm out of town right now. How's Monday work?"

"Monday is fine," Linda responded. "What time should I expect you?"

"The morning sometime," Joe responded distractedly, "see you then." Without waiting for a response Joe clicked over to the incoming call. "Hello?"

"Frank?" an unknown man's voice responded.

"No, this is his brother Joe. Who's this?" Joe asked.

"Nancy's Uncle Bob," the man sighed, "I think I might be able to help."

All thoughts of telling Frank the happy news, about his offer being accepted on the house on Cherrywood Drive flew out of Joe's head. "Hold on, let me get Frank."

* * *

Frank sat down on the couch beside his brother, his hair still dripping from the shower. Joe put his phone on speaker, "Mr. Drew, I'm so happy to hear from you."

"I'd like to say the same Frank, but I wish I was hearing from you under different circumstances." Bob replied sadly, "this thing with Nancy is very upsetting."

"Joe said you could help," Frank prompted.

"I believe I can," Bob sighed, "you have to understand; Chuck and I left that lifestyle behind a long time ago. We made it very clear to Roman and Greg that we were straightening up our act that we were going to earn an honest living."

"Go on," Frank said and rubbed the towel over his dripping hair.

"The announcement was not greeted with enthusiasm, Greg was especially unhappy. Our friendship ended…violently. Chuck swore that he was never going to be able to walk straight again," Bob laughed thinly, "Greg fancied himself the leader of our little gang so naturally it was up to him to punish those of us who didn't want to be apart of it anymore." Bob took a deep breath, "I don't know how much help Chuck or I can be, we're not exactly welcome around our old friends anymore."

"That's okay, any information you have, any at all would be great," Frank said desperately.

"Chuck and I can't contact Roman or Greg without them getting suspicious, but Eric can," Bob stopped for a moment, "It took Eric a lot longer to realize he didn't want to be a criminal anymore. You could say he "quit" just recently."

"Eric O'Reilly," Joe said remembering the name from the article he and Frank had read.

"Yes, although he goes by a different name now," Bob said, "but yes."

"So, how can you help us?" Joe was starting to get impatient.

"Charles and I can't contact Greg or Roman, but Eric can," Bob said again, "Eric has agreed to pretend he wants back in. He's already contacted both Greg and Roman. He's set to meet with Roman later this afternoon."

"That's great," Frank replied. "Where?"

"I don't know," Bob replied.

"How do you not know?" Joe asked furiously and shared a look with his brother.

"You don't understand. We called ourselves 'brothers' but we were very suspicious of one another. Roman is being cautious. He says he won't contact Eric with the meeting place until a half an hour before they're supposed to meet."

Frank shook his head in frustration; couldn't it ever just be simple? "Okay, then how do we know where to meet up with Eric and Roman?"

"You don't," Bob replied patiently, "Roman has to believe Eric. He's not going to give up information easily."

"Then we grab Roman and make him tell us where he's keeping Nancy and Ashley," Joe suggested.

"Again, you can't do that. Roman will never give up the location. Greg is on his way, he'll be here Saturday according to Eric. Let Eric get close to Roman and find out where Nancy and Ashley are being held through their confidence. If Roman is grabbed, Greg will know and Greg will not be happy." Bob was silent for a moment, "you do not want to make Greg unhappy. You just don't."

Frank sighed, he knew that Bob understood the situation better than he did, having been friends with Roman and Greg so long and yet it was still immensely frustrating to be stuck waiting while others did the legwork. "Okay," he finally agreed, "okay."

* * *

Roman sat at the little café, his eyes darting warily from person to person. Why did he always listen to Greg? If it were up to him he'd be meeting Eric somewhere private, somewhere away from prying eyes and cops. But no, Greg…the almighty Greg has insisted he meet Eric in a public place. Roman had wanted Eric to meet him at the warehouse, but Greg hadn't, so here he sat.

"Roman," Eric had been watching Roman fidget for the last ten minutes. It couldn't have been clearer that Roman was out of his mind with stress. Eric looked down at his faded jeans, the tear he had ripped in the knee last night looked authentic and the t-shirt he had deliberately wrinkled looked old and worn, despite the fact that he had just bought it yesterday. The hardest part had been scuffing his new leather shoes, but he knew it needed to be done.

He needed to look like he wasn't successful, hadn't been able to make it without crime to stuff his pockets and his bank account. If it hadn't of been for Chuck and Bob, he wouldn't have made it. He owed them this. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to muss it up even further and stepped toward the little café table.

"Eric," Roman gave him a shaky smile, "never thought I'd see you again." He took in Eric's ratty appearance and smiled again, "you've looked better."

"The straight life doesn't agree with me," Eric said simply and took his seat. To Roman's eye, Eric looked to be all the worse for wear, but if Greg had been there he would have definitely picked up on the subtle changes in his friend. The casual wave to signal the waitress spoke of dignity and polish, the way he laid his napkin in his lap, something he had never done before, the sheen manners and morals put on a person wouldn't have escaped Greg's notice. Roman however, was too jittery and unintelligent to take any notice of the small changes in his friend.

"So, you're looking to come back," Roman answered and his hand shook as he reached for his cup, "Greg doesn't know if he wants you to come back."

"What do you want Roman?" Eric asked

Roman paused for a moment, considering, "I've missed you," he finally answered.

"I've missed you too," Eric replied and his smile was genuine. He had always cared about his brother's and their well being. Just because he had left that life behind didn't mean he didn't still care, especially for Roman. He had always been the runt, the baby in the group: slower than and not as cool as his older brothers.

"So, you really want to come back?" Roman asked, not daring to hope. Eric had always been his favorite brother; he had never treated him like an idiot.

"I really do," Eric replied.

Roman believed him.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I love to hear your thoughts! Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 17**

"So Roman, what do you say?" Eric asked his old friend. He hoped he had injected just the right amount of desperation and sincerity into his voice.

"I'll have to talk it over with Greg," Roman replied and stood up quickly from the café table.

"You're still running everything by him?" Eric asked with a raised brow.

Roman visibly stiffened, "no, but something like this is a decision for the brothers to make."

"I thought I was your brother," Eric said and stood up to stand beside Roman.

"You were, now it's up to Greg and I to determine if you will be again," Roman threw some bills down on the table; "we'll contact you."

"When?" Eric laid a hand on Roman's shoulder, "how soon?"

"You've waited this long, you can probably wait a little longer," Roman pushed Eric's hand off of his shoulder and strode away.

'_Not much longer,'_ Eric thought desperately, _'Nancy and Ashley may not have that long.'_

* * *

Nancy's back screamed in protest from the odd angle she had slept in all night as she opened her eyes and stretched slowly. She blinked and looked over at Ashley who was sitting cross-legged on the mattress eating breakfast.

"You're awake;" Ashley said simply, "look what they brought us." She pointed at the large bag of McDonald's take out and Nancy inwardly groaned: this kidnapping business was going to wreak havoc on her figure.

Still, Nancy leaned over and took a peek in the bag, "wow," she exclaimed. There was easily enough food to feed three of four people, including Joe in the takeout bag.

"I know," Ashley took a big bite of her sandwich, "there's a lot of food. Those guys really scare me and are big fat meanie heads, but they gave us a lot of breakfast."

"Yeah, they're meanie heads," Nancy agreed and reached for a breakfast sandwich.

"Don't forget big and fat," Ashley said and took a sip of her orange juice.

Nancy laughed, "of course not." She looked around the room and it was just as depressing as it had been last night: no windows and she was still handcuffed to the wretched desk. "How long have you been awake?"

"I woke up when they brought us the breakfast. I was really scared and was going to wake you up but that big one, with the blonde hair? He smiled at me and made me feel better, well a little better. He's still a big fat meanie head." Ashley reached for a hash brown and took a big bite.

Nancy thought of Lars, the bigger of the two thugs with blonde hair, _'he might be a good way to get out of here.'_

The day passed slowly with little interruptions. They were brought lunch, more McDonald's and taken to the bathroom every couple of hours and each time the door opened Nancy was prepared to try and talk Lars into helping them. Unfortunately, each time the door opened it wasn't Lars, but the other thug who didn't appear to speak English or any other language Nancy tried to use.

Nancy and Ashley spent the morning and early afternoon playing games, "I Spy" turned into quite the adventure in the dull, color challenged room. Picking bricks in the walls became routine so that a person had to ask specifically, "Do you spy a brick that has a weird looking vein-y thing running through the middle of it?" or "do you spy a brick that has what looks like the face of Mulan on it?" This game reduced the two girls into fits of giggles and entertained them for a long time.

Eventually they started making up their own games, one of Ashley's favorites was having Nancy say something in another language and Ashley would translate it based on what she thought it sounded like. After translating that Nancy had scrambled eggs coming out of her ears and feet made of tin, the door to the room opened and a triumphant looking Roman waltzed into the room.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully. "I've just talked to my brother. He's going to be here tomorrow and we're getting one of our brothers back."

"How great for you," Nancy said dryly, even though her heart leapt into her throat. Greg Atkinson was on his way and Nancy wanted to be far away from this place before he arrived and _another_ brother? How many of the bloody men were there?

"It is great," Roman said happily, "Eric left us last year and William is in jail and Charles and Robert left us a long time ago," he finished angrily. He shook his head, "the point is, it was just Greg and I and now Eric is back! Greg said he can come back!"

"So, you have five brothers," Nancy asked counting quickly in her head.

"I _did_ have five brothers, back in Chicago but then Chuck and Robert abandoned us. Now I have three!" he said gleefully. "Blood brothers for life."

* * *

"I'm to meet Roman late tonight," Eric told Frank as he and Joe sat in Joe's apartment.

"Where?" Frank asked

"I don't know yet. He'll call me tonight," Eric replied.

Joe groaned loudly, "Are you guys for real? Aren't you guys supposed to be like, the closest brothers? Where's the trust?" he shook his head, he couldn't imagine not trusting Frank completely.

"Criminals are of a different ilk," Eric replied calmly, "we don't trust even our closest of friends."

"How fun," Joe replied sarcastically.

"So, you'll call us when you figure out where you're going to meet Roman?" Frank asked.

"Not quite," Eric said slowly, "I'll call you as soon as I find out where they're holding Nancy and Ashley."

"No!" Frank was fast losing his slippery grip on control, "No, I'm done with not knowing what's going on and waiting for everyone else to make the calls. You'll call us and tell us where Roman wants to meet you. We'll follow you from there."

"If Roman sees you…" Eric began but Frank cut him off.

"Joe and I have been doing this a long time," Frank replied, only a hint of sarcasm in his tone, "We know how to follow someone without being seen. Besides, from all accounts Roman isn't that smart, he won't catch on," the only sign of Frank's distress was his fisted hands resting on his knees. Not for the first time Joe felt in awe of his brother's ability to control his emotions.

Eric was silent for a moment, considering, "alright," he replied finally. "But if you're seen, it's on your heads. I owe Chuck and Bob a lot, I don't want to be responsible if the two of you screw this up."

"We won't," Joe answered heatedly. "Call us when you find out where you're going."

"Will do," Eric replied and hung up.

"I love her," Frank said and stared out the window. He seemed to be talking to himself, "I love her, of course I'm not going to do anything to screw this up."

"I think we should call Dad, for backup," Joe said after a few moments of silence, "we don't know how many men Roman has."

"That's a good idea," Frank murmured and rubbed furiously at his tired eyes. "That's a really good idea."

"I'll call him," Joe punched in his father's number.

"Hello?" Fenton answered.

"Hey Dad," Joe said, "we have a lead and we need your help." Joe explained the situation to his father.

"I'll be over soon," Fenton said and then paused, "how's Frank holding up?"

Because Frank was in the room with him, Joe had to be careful choosing his words, "okay, what you would expect."

"Did he sleep last night?" Fenton asked.

"Not really," Joe glanced at his brother to see if he could tell they were talking about him.

"Did he have another nightmare?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't give details," Joe replied.

"It was that bad?" Fenton sighed, "Okay, see if you can get him to rest. I'll be over soon."

"Okay, bye Dad," Joe hung up knowing that the chances of Frank taking an afternoon nap were slim to none. "Dad's on his way."

"He's worried about me," Frank said with a small smile.

"What?" Joe tried to look innocent, "we were talking about the case."

"Joe, I know you and I know Dad. No matter how cryptic and careful you are choosing your words, I know what you guys were talking about," Frank sighed and leaned back against the couch. "I'm not ready to talk about my nightmare last night." Images from his nightmare, of Joe's bloody and lifeless body flashed through his mind and he shook his head to rid himself of the horrible thought.

"That's okay," Joe replied, "if and when bro, I'm here. You know that."

"Yeah, I do." Frank closed his eyes, "and no, I'm not going to take a nap."

Joe smiled and shook his head and then reached for his phone when it rang, "hello?" he answered.

"Joe, its Robert, have you found anything?" even through the phone Joe could hear the fatigue and worry straining the man's voice.

"We've got a major lead," Joe replied, "it looks promising."

"I don't know what this means, but I got a phone call awhile ago. The kidnapper said that I have an extension on the deadline for the ransom money." Robert sighed, "Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"Uh," Joe was puzzled he had never heard of a kidnapper offering an extension, "Honestly Robert, I have no idea." Frank looked over at Joe in confusion and he suddenly realized why Roman would offer an extension. His brother Greg wasn't going to be in town until tomorrow.

"He didn't tell me the new date…I just thought I should tell you."

"Okay, thank you Robert and don't worry. We're working on it; we're going to get your daughter out of there." Joe closed his phone and looked at his brother. "Roman gave Robert an extension on the ransom."

Frank's mouth dropped open, "he what?"

"An extension. On the Ransom. Roman." Joe repeated slowly.

"Well, that's…different," Frank frowned and then he groaned, "Oh. It's because Greg won't be here until tomorrow."

"Exactly," Joe nodded.

"This is getting more and more bizarre, Joe. I don't think we've ever worked on case quite like this one. Nancy's gay Uncle Bob and his estranged blood brother from Chicago is our main source of information, the kidnapper is, to be polite, not very intelligent and the date for the ransom has been pushed back, _by the kidnapper,"_ Frank shook his head, "and all of that would be laughable if it wasn't for the fact that the serial killer Greg Atkinson is on his way here, Nancy and Ashley are being held hostage and I'm having some of the worst nightmares of my life."

"That pretty much sums it up," Joe said and watched his brother stand up and pace across the room. He knew his brother better than anyone and the controlled way he stalked across the room would have fooled everyone else, but not Joe. Joe knew that his brother was barely holding on to the control and composure he was so well known for.

The apartment door opened and Vanessa came bursting in, a ball of excited energy. "Hey babe!" she ran over and gave Joe an enthusiastic kiss. Pulling away she ran over and gave Frank a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, "how are you?" she asked quietly pulling away.

"I'm okay," Frank replied with a small smile.

"Anything new happen while I was away?" she asked both of the brothers.

"Nancy's Uncle Bob put us into contact with an old friend, Eric. He's going to find us the location of where they're holding Nancy and Ashley," Joe summed up the events of the day.

"Oh, that's good," Vanessa smiled in relief, "you'll find them in no time," she said confidently.

"How was shopping?" Frank asked.

She turned excited eyes on him, "it was _amazing_. I found the dress and it was marked down an additional ten percent on top of the sale price and I found the _perfect_ shoes and veil and something really great for the wedding night," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Joe and earned laughs out of the brothers. "My mom also found the _greatest_ wedding favors and we picked up the invitations and picked out the place settings and the centerpieces. It was so much fun."

Joe looked at his watch, "you did that all in six hours?"

"Yup," Vanessa replied happily. "Six of the best hours, it was so great to go shopping with my mom. Callie is going to fly in next week to help me with bridesmaid dresses and planning the wedding shower and the bachelorette party." She paused and frowned, "I hope Nancy still feels up to going dress shopping with us next week."

"I'm sure she will," Joe replied and wrapped an arm around his fiancée's waist, "I'm just glad that you got all of those things on sale."

"Who said I got all of that on sale?" Vanessa asked, "My _dress_ was on sale. Everything else was regularly priced."

Joe's face paled, "it was?"

"Yes," Vanessa replied with a smile. "Don't worry, my mom offered to pay for the invites."

"Oh, well…that was very nice of her," Joe replied and gulped, "how much did this six hour odyssey of yours cost?"

"A lot," Vanessa smiled and walked into the kitchen. "Oh yeah," she called from the other room, "my mom offered to store all of the stuff at her house because we don't have enough room. I'm having it all shipped over there."

Joe just nodded his head in shock, "can I at least see this dress that's supposed to be so wonderful?"

Vanessa walked back out of the kitchen holding a glass of water, "of course not, silly."

"Why not?" Joe asked.

"Two reasons: one, I had my mom take it back to her house and two, you're not allowed to see it until our wedding day," Vanessa smiled slyly.

"How come I feel like the groom gets the short end of the stick during this whole wedding business?" Joe asked and walked over to stand in front of Vanessa, wrapping his arms around her.

"You may get the short end of the stick while planning for the wedding, but you definitely come out on top at the wedding and after. Come on, you get to be married to _me_ for the rest of your life and I'm pretty fabulous," Vanessa leaned up and gave Joe a quick kiss.

Joe nodded his head wisely, "this is very true."

* * *

"We're meeting at the McDonalds on Twelfth and Water," Eric announced a few hours later.

"Perfect, what time?" Frank asked.

"In thirty minutes. Don't let him see you," he warned.

"We won't," Frank hung up and turned to his father and brother. "Let's go."

"I still think we should contact the FBI with what we know," Fenton said from his seat on the couch. He didn't really think that, but he thought it was his duty as the parent to bring it up.

"No way," Frank said, "I'm done with FBI protocol."

"They had the wrong information last night," Joe said and shook his head, "why do we need to call them for a job we can do ourselves? They'll probably just mess it up anyway."

"Or try and stop us," Frank added.

Fenton stood up, his parenting duty done he smiled, "I agree. Let's go."

Joe relinquished driving rights to Frank with a minimal fight. He knew his brother well enough to know that he needed to drive, needed to feel in control of a situation that seemed to be out of their hands. The three Hardy men pulled up to the McDonald's and parked in the lot of the insurance company next door.

They didn't have to wait long, five minutes later a car pulled up and Frank clearly recognized Roman in the backseat. Eric came quickly out of the McDonald's and climbed in the back seat beside Roman. Frank pulled out of the parking spot and let two cars get behind Roman before pulling out into traffic.

They followed Roman's car down the main street and when it turned right down a side road Frank quickly followed, thankful that there was still a car between his and Roman's.

Frank frowned when he realized what direction they were heading, "Joe is this…"

"Yeah," Joe replied.

"What is it boys?" Fenton asked.

Frank seemed unable to answer and so Joe turned to his father to explain, "This is the same warehouse district we were at with the FBI last night."

"But the warehouse was empty," Fenton said confused.

"It was the wrong warehouse," Frank ground out between gritted teeth. In a rare display of emotion Frank pounded his fist on the steering wheel and swore loudly. He watched as Roman's car pulled into the underground parking lot of the ware house on the opposite corner of the warehouse they had checked with the FBI. "They had the wrong warehouse!" he said again in disbelief. "I was right here last night, I was so close!"

"Frank," Fenton laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "don't think about that. The important thing is that you're here now. Let's concentrate on getting Nancy and Ashley home safe."

The three men discussed the best way to get inside and find Nancy and all three agreed that it would be best to wait and see what they were facing once they got inside.

* * *

Eric and Roman stood in the elevator with Lars and got off on the first floor. Roman led him down the dark hallway and pointed to a door about halfway down, "that's where the girls are."

Eric nodded. Roman had explained to him the mess he was in on the car ride over. "Are they okay?" Eric asked.

Roman gave Eric a quizzical look but answered, "of course." He stepped into a room at the end of the hall and Eric could see that it was Roman's office, "wait here, I've got to do something. I'll be right back."

"Okay," Eric waited until Roman and his hired man left him in the room alone. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed Frank's number.

"Hello?" Frank answered.

"Frank, they're on the first floor," Eric whispered. "The middle door on the right," he hung up quickly when Roman and Lars came back in the room. Roman walked over to his desk and poured Eric a drink.

"To brotherhood," Roman said and clinked his glass against Eric's

"To brotherhood," Eric repeated and took a sip of his drink.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Okay, so I actually had this chapter written and done this morning but I wasn't happy with what I had written…I did something that I knew would upset a lot of people and frankly, it was upsetting me too. :) So, I re-wrote it and this is what I came up with…I'm happier with the direction I took it in but the writing is abysmal, lol…please, don't be too harsh. :)

And of course, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate everyone for taking the time out of their day to read what I write. Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 18**

Frank hung up his phone, "Eric says they're on the first floor."

"Okay, let's go," Joe said and opened his car door.

"Wait," Fenton's brow was creased in concentration, "Greg isn't going to be here until tomorrow right?"

"Right, which is why we have to get Nancy out of there as soon as possible," Frank said antsy to get going.

"Okay, let's go," Fenton said and pushed open his door.

"No, wait," Joe stopped his father, "you have that tone of voice that says you're thinking about something. What is it?"

Fenton paused and looked at his son's expectant faces, "I think that once we have Nancy and Ashley out of there we should come up with a way to get Greg Atkinson. If we can come up with some sort of evidence or trick a confession out of him about the Schott-Reynolds case, I think we should try. It's the perfect opportunity. We know where he's going to be tomorrow."

Frank and Joe were silent for a moment as they thought of what there father was saying, "If there was ever a man deserving of jail it would be Atkinson," Frank murmured.

"Exactly," Fenton nodded, "but for right now let's concentrate on getting the girls out of there safely."

Joe shook his head, "we think we know everything and then Dad comes along and blows that theory to pieces, we should have called you sooner," he smiled.

* * *

Eric sat in the office with Roman, sipping his drink and listening with half an ear to Roman's endless chatter. His mind barely registered what Roman was saying but he managed to make the appropriate comments at the right times as his mind wandered.

He knew that it might take a while for Roman to figure out what he had done, that he had betrayed their 'brotherhood'. If Greg were here however, he would know instantly what Eric had done and would find a way to make him pay for it.

He took a sip of his drink, his steady hand masking completely how nervous he felt. He nodded his head along with Roman talking about his latest casino exploit and smiled vacantly. Eric was worried about the position he had gotten himself into, but he didn't regret it. Pulling the wool over Roman's eyes would be easy, but Greg was going to be a different story. Greg didn't take betrayal well.

He had only recently found out about the horrible things Greg had done and they went far above and beyond even the horrors of what he had done to the Schott and the Reynolds woman. It was after that discovery that Eric had decided he could no longer live a criminal life. He didn't want to have any part of that kind of unspeakable horror.

He still bore the terrible marks on his chest, back and arms where Greg had burned him. Greg didn't like it when people left.

If he let himself, Eric found himself going back to that dark rainy night two years ago. He could feel the raw terror creeping into his throat as Greg ordered that he be held down. The lighter fluid he poured on his brother was cold and slimy, a stark contrast to the fire that would soon blaze across his flesh.

Eric shuddered and tried to focus on Roman's face, leaving that dark and terrible night at the back of his memory. He brought his drink to his lips and pushed the memories even further back into his mind. No matter how much he tried to focus on Roman, he could still smell the horrible burning smell of his own skin.

Eric sighed and resolved to do everything in his power to put Greg Atkinson behind bars.

It was at the end of that thought that he and Roman both heard it: a loud thud coming from the hallway.

* * *

Frank tried the door that led into the parking garage but found that it was, of course, locked. "Locked," he muttered and pulled out his lock picking kit.

"You're such a Boy Scout," Joe said with a grin pointing at the tools.

"Always be prepared," Frank said sarcastically and got to work.

"It's been awhile since I've done exciting detective work," Fenton said, "I feel like we should be wearing all black and ski masks."

"Dad, when have you _ever_ dressed like that on a case?" Joe asked his father with a smirk.

"There's a first time for everything," Fenton responded as Frank gave a cry of triumph and pushed open the warehouse door.

The trio crept as quickly and as quietly as possible across the parking garage toward the elevators. The door for the stairs stood right next to them. Frank reached out and slowly opened the door, praying that it wouldn't make any noise.

When they reached the first floor Frank looked through the small window in the door, "there's a guy in the hallway," he whispered.

"How big?" Joe asked excitement shining in his eyes.

"Big," Frank responded.

"I'll take care of him," Joe said confidently "and don't you help me either," Joe demanded and stepped quickly out into the hall.

Frank and Fenton exchanged a glance, "he's such a show off."

"Yeah, but we love him." Fenton and Frank stepped out into the hallway and were surprised to see a grinning Joe standing over the big thug's unconscious body.

"Wow, that was fast," Frank said in awe, keeping his voice low.

"That's how I work brother, fast," Joe replied and leaned down to check the man's pockets. He pulled some keys out of his jacket and stood up, "keys," he announced and turned toward the door Eric had said Nancy and Ashley were being held.

Frank's heart was pounding in his chest, any minute now the nightmare he had been living for the last few days would be over. He knew that he just needed to feel Nancy in his arms and everything would get better, he'd be able think clearly again.

Joe unlocked the door and Frank rushed past him into the room. He had barely registered his surroundings before Ashley flung herself in his arms, "Frank!" she cried and buried her face in his neck. Frank's eyes locked with Nancy's but he didn't let go of the girl who was now sobbing wildly in his arms.

Fenton knew his son well and so stepped forward to take the hysterical girl out of Frank's arms. As soon he had his arms free Frank rushed forward and gathered Nancy into a hug, "Nancy," he murmured into her hair over and over again, "Nancy, Nancy."

"Frank, I knew you'd find us," Nancy whispered and clung to him desperately with her one free arm.

"Nancy," was all Frank could manage to say as he continued to hold her. He pulled away after a minute and looked at her, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Nancy replied and ran her hand through Frank's hair, "it's so good to see you. I saw you last night and…" Nancy's voice trailed off when she realized she didn't know how to express the huge feelings that had overwhelmed her when she had seen Frank last night. She had been flooded by so much love and comfort and joy at seeing him and had been filled with such sadness after seeing him leave. How did you express that sort of love to someone else?

Frank's voice was quiet and sad, "you saw me last night?"

"Yes," Nancy replied and placed her hand on his cheek, "I did."

Frank laid his forehead on hers, completely overcome, "I'm so sorry we had the wrong warehouse."

"It's okay," Nancy smiled, "you found us now and that's what matters."

Joe cleared his throat behind the couple, "um, guys? I hate to interrupt but…" Frank turned to look at his brother who was staring at the key ring in his hands, "I don't think this guy has the key to Nancy's handcuffs."

Fenton held Ashley in his arms making soothing noises but the girl continued to sob, "We need to get her to a hospital," he said.

Frank rubbed his eyes, "okay, I have my lock picking kit, I can get Nancy out of the cuffs. Dad, you take Ashley out of here and get her some help, I guess we should call the FBI."

"And Joe, you go find Roman and kick his…" Joe started to finish his brother's sentence but Frank cut him off.

"And Joe, you wait right here for me to free Nancy and then you'll get Nancy out of here and _I'll_ go find Roman to kick his…" this time it was Frank's turn to get interrupted.

"I don't need Joe to get me out of here," Nancy said indignantly, "whatever both of you have in mind for Roman, I'd like to join in."

Fenton was about to intervene when a gunshot sounded from somewhere inside the warehouse. He thought quickly, his main priority was now getting the little girl in his arms out of the building safely, "I'm taking Ashley out and calling this in. You three better figure it out and get out of here fast and be careful," He left the room and looked both ways before running down the hallway to the stairs holding the crying girl in his arms.

Frank, Joe and Nancy all stood staring at each other for a moment, "are you going to get me out of here, Hardy?" Nancy demanded.

Frank gave her a long look, "Only if you promise to go with Joe once I do."

"Sure," Nancy shrugged, "because Joe will be going where I'm going, to find Roman and the source of that gunshot."

Frank groaned, "Nancy…" He was stopped from finishing his sentence by the sound of a door slamming shut in the hallway. Joe stuck his head out the door to investigate the noise and saw another thug standing staring dumbfounded down at his fallen comrade. He looked up and upon seeing Joe took off running.

Joe muttered a curse, "they always run. Will you two be okay?" he asked and Frank and Nancy both nodded as Joe took off after the man.

* * *

Roman eyed Eric warily, "did you hear that?"

Eric swallowed, "yeah."

Roman stood up slowly from behind his desk and walked across the room. He slowly and carefully opened the door and looked out into the hallway. What he saw had his blood running cold. He turned to face his brother who was sitting in his chair looking at him questioningly.

"What is it?" Eric asked.

"The Hardy's," Roman whispered, "but how did they find me?" his eyes darted around the small room, looking for escape. His mind was in full on panic mode trying to find a way to get out. "What should we do? How should we get out?" Roman asked Eric desperately. He stood staring at his brother, chest heaving and somehow through the haze of panic a thought settled itself in his brain. Eric was looking way too calm and…smug. For the first time, Roman's mind worked fast, "you," he said.

"What?" Eric asked innocently.

"You led them here," Roman accused.

"Roman, you're my brother why would I do something like that?" Eric stood up slowly.

"Because…because…" Roman stuttered, this thinking fast business was tough work. He watched as Eric began to walk closer to him before he reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun, "don't come any closer."

The sight of the gun had Eric pausing, but not panicking. He knew his brother well and Roman wasn't one to shoot someone in cold blood, "Roman, just give up."

"No!" Roman cried as Eric took another cautious step forward. The men stood like that for a few moments, staring each other down like two gunslingers at high noon, except one of the men had a gun and the other didn't.

Eric took his opportunity and jumped forward to try and wrestle the gun out of Roman's grasp. He held Roman's wrist in his hands, the gun moving around wildly as Roman flung his arms out to try and get away. Eric watched as Roman's finger squeezed the trigger, his eyes widened in horror as a new kind of fire ripped through his body.

Roman watched his brother fall to the floor and didn't feel an ounce of remorse.

* * *

"Frank, get me out of here fast," Nancy said, "we have to find out where that gunshot came from." Frank nodded and pulled out his kit. He sensed it before Nancy cried out and was up like a shot when Roman came stumbling into the doorway of the small room, "Frank!" Nancy cried and began pulling on her handcuffs.

Roman let out a feral growl and launched himself at Frank. Caught off guard Frank stumbled back and his foot kicked the lock picking kit out of Nancy's reach. He fell into the desk and then quickly righted himself only to see that he was staring at a gun held in Roman's trembling hands.

"Put your hands in the air!" Roman ordered and when Frank didn't do it he shouted the order again, "I said put your hands in the air!"

Moving quickly Frank kicked the gun out of Roman's nervous hands and the man easily lost his grip on the weapon. It went flying and landed behind the desk Nancy was stuck to. Nancy pulled with all her might on the handcuff around her wrist and tried to slip her hand out of the small circle of metal. She let out a cry of frustration as she watched Roman smash Frank hard into wall and a grimace of pain wash across his face.

If only Frank's foot hadn't kicked the kit away and if only they would get a little closer to her, so that she could maybe help Frank out. She cringed as Roman landed a punch to Frank's jaw and it began to bleed. Frank yelled loudly and launched himself on Roman, pushing the man across the room and against the opposite wall.

The two men struggled for a moment; each trying to get the upper hand before Joe came rushing back into the room. "I lost…" he began to say but stopped when he saw his brother struggling with Roman.

He rushed forward and it was only a matter of moments before the two Hardy's had Roman subdued. Joe held onto the man's arms tightly as Frank staggered back, wiping his bloody lip. "Better take him down to Dad and the Feds, Joe."

"Let's put those cuffs on him first," Joe said nodding at Nancy. Frank nodded and knelt down in front of Nancy. Within minutes he had the cuffs free and he tossed them over to Joe who quickly put them on Roman's wrists.

"Can you get him?" Frank asked.

"Did you see me drop the Incredible Hulk earlier? Of course I've got this guy," Joe said and began to walk Roman out of the room.

"Okay, we'll be down in a minute," Frank helped Nancy to her feet and then pulled her into a fierce hug. "I just need a minute," he murmured into her hair and Nancy put both of her arms around Frank and held on tight.

Nancy was the first to pull away slowly and she leaned in to examine Frank's bloody lip, "you're going to have quite the shiner," she smiled.

Frank smiled back, "yeah," he agreed and sighed, "It took me longer than three minutes to take Roman down."

Nancy's brow creased in confusion, "what do you mean?"

With a smile Frank explained, "Isn't it the Drew family motto that it's only worth doing something if it takes you three minutes or less?"

Nancy laughed, "Yes, but sometimes certain things _need_ to take longer." Overcome with emotion Nancy threw her arms around Frank's neck and pulled his face down to meet hers in a long happy kiss. "I am so happy that you came."

"I told you I would," Frank replied.

"How did you find us?" Nancy asked.

Frank opened his mouth to tell her about her Uncle Bob and the connection and his eyes grew wide, "oh no," he whispered, "Eric."

"Eric? Eric who?" Nancy asked.

"The gunshot," Frank said and grabbed Nancy's hand, pulling her out of the room, "we have to find Eric."

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hello everyone! I just finished writing out my ideas for the rest of this story and I'm pretty excited to start writing them all out! I hope everyone continues to read and enjoy and thank you for all of the reviews!

Also, I will be out of town starting tomorrow morning thru next Saturday. So, my next update will probably not be until next Sunday. I'm not sure, but I'm going to try and post two updates today to make up for how long it's taken me to post and for not updating for a week. :) Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 19**

"Who's Eric?" Nancy asked as Frank pulled her down the hallway.

"The man who helped us find you, a friend of your Uncle's," Frank explained as he looked in each door down the hallway.

"My what?" Nancy was shocked. "My Uncle's?"

"It'll take some time to explain, but your Uncle Bob and your Uncle Chuck, you know the family legend that they were in the mob?" Frank paused and Nancy nodded, "that's essentially true."

"True?" Nancy was speechless.

"Yeah and they used to run around with Roman and Greg…and Eric, who turned away from the criminal lifestyle awhile ago and agreed to help us track you down." Frank pushed open another door.

"Well...well, okay then," Nancy was completely shocked, "are you sure we're talking about _my _Uncle Bob and _my _Uncle Chuck?"

"Yeah," Frank replied and pushed open the last door. There in the middle of the room lay a bleeding Eric, "Eric!" he yelled and ran forward to inspect the injured man.

Nancy rushed forward to kneel beside Frank as he pulled open the man's bloody shirt. Nancy gasped at the sight of his burned chest, "Oh my God," she whispered.

"Where's the bullet hole?" Frank wondered searching Eric's chest, there was blood everywhere. Eric began to groan and tried to sit up, "stay still, Eric," Frank ordered and pushed the man back to the ground. "Where's the bullet hole?" Frank asked again.

"My…arm," Eric said weakly, "my stupid arm."

Frank pulled the shirt away from Eric's arm and gritted his teeth. There, just above the elbow was the entrance wound and Frank knew from experience that the exit wound wouldn't be pretty. Both Nancy and Frank noticed Eric's burned skin under all of the blood.

"We need to get him help," Nancy said, "Do you have your phone?" Frank nodded and pulled it out of his pocket.

"Call Joe, help is supposed to be on the way," Frank didn't take his eyes off Eric's bleeding arm, "we need to put pressure on this, we need to stop the bleeding."

"Joe," Nancy said a few moments later, "Joe, there's a gunshot victim up here. We need an ambulance." She shut the phone and shoved it in her pocket, "Joe says there's an ambulance pulling up right now. They'll be right up."

"Good," Frank nodded, "he's lost a lot of blood." He looked around the room for something, anything that could be used to stop the bleeding. His eyes fell on the makeshift bar under the window, "Nancy, see if that has any towels or something we can use."

Nancy stood up and went over to the bar. She opened the first drawer and pulled all of the towels she found there out. She brought them over to Frank and he grabbed one and wrapped it around Eric's arm. He grabbed a second one and applied pressure to the wound.

"Help is on the way, Eric," Frank assured the glassy-eyed man. "You're going to be just fine."

A few minutes later and Eric was loaded on a stretcher and the room was flooded with FBI personnel.

* * *

"Why didn't you call me?" Michael said angrily and paced away from Frank and Joe. The three men were standing in the hospital waiting room, anxious for news about Nancy, Ashley and Eric. Nancy hadn't wanted to get checked out but at the insistence of both Michael and Frank she had given in.

"We don't work for you," Joe said with only a hint of anger in his voice, "we don't need to call and check in all the time."

"Yes, but you should have called me about this," Michael answered angrily as he whirled to face the two brothers, "Nancy is my _partner_ can't you understand that?"

Frank nodded his head slowly, "you're right."

"He's what?" Joe turned on his brother in surprise.

"He's right, Joe," Frank repeated, "We should have called you because you're Nancy's partner. We didn't call you because I was angry with the FBI for coming up with the wrong information in the first place. I'm sorry."

Joe shook his head and threw his hands up in frustration, "I don't believe it." He muttered and walked away.

Michael and Frank watched him go. Michael turned and shook Frank's hand, "you're a good man, Frank."

"You are too," Frank replied.

"The Bureau isn't happy with the two of you, for your decision to leave us in the dark about this," Michael said nonchalantly.

"Now that is something I couldn't care less about," Frank replied simply and Michael smiled in approval.

Both men looked up as the doors from the Emergency Room opened and Nancy came walking out. She immediately went over and gave Michael a big hug, "it's good to see you."

"You too, Drew," Michael replied with a grin.

Nancy turned and let herself be folded into Frank's warm protective arms, "are you okay?" Frank asked.

"Doctor says I'll live," Nancy replied, "I just need to get some sleep," she looked down at her dirty clothes and grimaced, "and I could stand to change out of these grimy clothes."

They all looked up as Robert, Frannie, Mary Anne and Bernie came rushing into the ER. Nancy couldn't help but notice the desperate grip Robert had on Frannie's hand. Robert ran over to where Frank and Nancy stood, "Ashley, where is she?" he asked them frantically.

"She's in the back getting checked out, she's okay," Frank assured him.

"Thank you," Robert said gratefully, "thank you." He rushed over to the reception desk and was soon escorted toward the Emergency Room doors. Before he disappeared he leaned down and gave Frannie a quick kiss.

"Vanessa was right," Nancy murmured.

"What?" Frank asked leaning down to hear her better.

"Vanessa thought that Frannie liked Robert…it looks like Robert likes her too," Nancy smiled. As someone who was content and in a happy relationship, she loved to see people around her happy too.

"Thank you so much for finding our baby girl," Mary Anne said with tears in her eyes. She and Bernie took turns hugging Nancy and Frank, "how can we ever repay you?"

"We were happy to do it, Mary Anne," Frank said with a warm smile.

"Joe!" Bernie said jovially as the younger Hardy walked over to the group a huge grin on his face. "Thank you!" he pulled Joe into a fierce hug which he happily returned, "So, how are we going to make this one pay?" Bernie asked.

Frank and Nancy laughed, recalling the time when Joe and Bernie had solidified their friendship over the decision of whether or not to shove snow down the criminal Krieger's pants. "Well Bernie, I was thinking something along the lines of boiling him like a lobster." Joe replied.

"My thoughts exactly my boy, now where do we find a pot big enough?" Bernie and Joe began to walk off together and Joe's response could barely be heard.

"I have some contacts…" Joe's voice faded away as the two men laughed and took seats on the other side of the waiting room.

"He reminds me of an older Joe," Frank commented as he watched the two men interact.

"Oh yes, my Bernie was exactly like Joe in his younger days. I think he likes to live vicariously through your brother." Mary Anne smiled, "oh, come here. I need to hug you two again," she wrapped both Nancy and Frank into a hug at the same time, "thank you so much. Robert has been beside himself."

"You're welcome," Nancy returned the hug.

"And you!" Mary Anne said loudly, "you were taken too and right in front of Robert's house! I can't tell you how sorry we are for that."

"No need to be sorry," Nancy reassured the woman, "it wasn't your fault."

"Still, if you hadn't been there helping us…" Mary Anne's voice trailed off.

"You've only known us eight months," Frank said with a kind smile.

"Exactly, wait awhile and you'll see we're pretty much a magnet for these types of situations," Nancy smiled, "you won't feel guilty in another couple of years when someone calls you to say one of us has gone missing again. You'll be thinking, 'again? What have they done this time?'" Mary Anne laughed and the group went over to wait for news on Ashley and Eric.

The doors to the Emergency Room opened once again and Vanessa walked quickly inside, "Joe!" she cried and he stood up to meet her halfway. He threw his arms around her enthusiastically and gave her a huge welcoming hug. The pair walked over to the group holding hands.

Mary Anne stood up and gave Vanessa a hug, "it's so good to see you my dear."

"You too," Vanessa returned with a smile, "how's Ashley?"

"She's being checked out by the doctor, but she's fine," Mary Anne assured her.

"Oh," Vanessa said lifting the bag she had in her hand, "Nancy, I brought you these." She lifted some clothes out of the bag, "I thought you might want a change of clothes. I figured we were close to the same size…" her voice trailed off.

Nancy stood up and hugged Vanessa, hard. "Oh my, thank you so much. You have no idea how much you have just made my day."

Vanessa laughed, "Let's go find a bathroom."

"Hey, why do you have to go?" Joe asked holding firmly to Vanessa's hand. "Maybe I don't want to share you."

Vanessa laughed and placed a hand on Joe's cheek, "honey, girls always go to the bathroom in pairs. No matter what," she laughed and kissed Joe quickly before grabbing Nancy's hand and heading off to the bathroom.

* * *

It was late when Nancy, Frank, Joe and Vanessa decided to go home for the night. Joe and Vanessa left in Vanessa's car and headed back to their apartment while Nancy and Frank took his car. Ashley had received a clean bill of health but was going to be kept in the hospital overnight for observation. Eric had come out of surgery just fine and was going to make a full recovery but he would be in no shape for visitors until the morning.

Frank drove quietly, not sure if Nancy was sleeping, she hadn't said anything in awhile. He hoped she did sleep, he had noticed the exhaustion in her face at the hospital, but she had been good at hiding it. Frank had to fight back his own exhaustion as he rolled his window down a little, hoping the cool night air would help keep him awake. It had been a long couple of days with little sleep and what sleep he had gotten had been plagued by nightmares.

Frank merged onto the freeway and settled into the speed limit, lost in his thoughts. He was surprised when Nancy shifted and spoke. "The room was so small," she said in a barely audible whisper.

"What was that?" Frank asked and reached over to take her hand in his.

Nancy squeezed his hand and turned to look at him, "the room. It was so small. At first, I thought I was going to start pulling all of my hair out from the panic of it, but when I looked at Ashley…I calmed down." Sensing she wasn't finished, Frank stayed silent, "It wasn't easy and it certainly didn't go away on the first shot, but every time I started to feel overwhelmed, like the walls were closing in around me, I just had to look at Ashley. It got easier. Then, when I saw you outside in the alley…" her voice trailed off and Frank stiffened.

"About that, I'm so sorry. We should have checked the other warehouses…" Frank took a deep breath. He would never forgive himself for being so lazy.

"No, don't do that," Nancy ordered.

"What?"

"That," Nancy replied, "That blaming yourself for the world's problems thing. You were not solely responsible for coming up with the wrong information. You were not solely responsible for every single movement, every faulty piece of information and decision made. It drives me crazy when you blame yourself like that because I know how much it hurts you." Nancy was silent for a moment, "it hurts me too, when you blame yourself."

Frank was shocked. He knew that, thanks to his brother pointing it out on more than one occasion, he tended to blame himself for a lot of things. He didn't necessarily agree with his brother, but he had heard it often enough to know that a lot of people shared the same opinion. That wasn't why he was shocked. He was shocked because he had never thought that his compulsion to blame himself could ever hurt those around him.

He didn't know what to say and so he was silent for a moment, thinking of the right thing to say. Finally, he took a deep breath, "I never thought of it that way and I'm sorry if I hurt you…" his voice trailed off. "I seem to be making all the wrong moves," Nancy groaned and lifted her free hand to cover her eyes, "what?" Frank asked indignantly.

"Nothing," Nancy said clearly exasperated with him.

"No, what did I say?" Frank asked, _what mistake have I made this time?_

Nancy turned to look at Frank, a small smile on her face, "what are you thinking right now?"

"How is that an answer to my question?" Frank asked.

"Don't worry, I'll get to it, just answer mine first," Nancy replied.

"Fine," Frank sighed, "I was wondering how I had messed up, again."

Nancy rolled her eyes, "and there's your answer." Seeing Frank's confused expression Nancy sighed, "You're blaming yourself again. You're blaming yourself for hurting me unintentionally with your weird compulsion to blame yourself for the pain of everyone around you."

"Huh," was all Frank could manage.

Nancy lifted her hand up and ran it through his hair, "I love the man that you are Frank, but I wish you wouldn't blame yourself for things so much. You can't be held responsible for every bad thing that happens to us." Nancy sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat, "it will feel so good to sleep in an actual bed."

Frank smiled at her and then turned his attention back to the road. Nancy's words had caused him to think. He still didn't agree with her, but it was definitely something to think about.

He pulled into the apartment complex and parked next to his front door. Both he and Nancy dragged their feet tiredly as they got out of the car. Frank wrapped his arm around Nancy's waist in support and she leaned on him heavily up the steps to his apartment.

"This kidnapping business is exhausting," Nancy mumbled as Frank slipped his key in the lock.

"This trying to find you business is exhausting," Frank said and they both stumbled through the front door. Frank closed the door behind them and locked it.

"I have an idea," Nancy said as she pulled off her shoes, "I know I need a shower like nobody's business, but I think you're just going to have to deal with that for the night."

"I think I can do that," Frank said with an exhausted smile that quickly turned into a yawn.

"Okay then, take me to bed Hardy," Nancy smiled and Frank grabbed her hand, pulling her down the hall. They went through the motions of getting changed, both of them merely shedding their clothes and leaving them in scattered piles around the room. Frank found that he only had energy to pull on a pair of pajama pants while Nancy simply grabbed a shirt out of Frank's drawer and pulled it over her head.

They pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, Frank pulling Nancy close to his chest and wrapping his arms around her. He sighed, anticipating a nightmare free sleep. Nancy laughed softly, "what is it?" Frank asked with his eyes closed, utterly content.

"I was just looking at your bedroom floor," Nancy replied and laughed again, her hand resting on his chest. "Our scattered clothes look like we were up to a very different activity than just getting ready for bed in an exhausted stupor."

Frank laughed and tightened his arms around her. He leaned down and kissed the top of Nancy's head, "don't you dare tell my brother, but I don't think I could do _that_ activity right now I'm so tired."

Nancy laughed again and then yawned, "Don't worry, me neither."

They were asleep in minutes.

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Here it is, the make-up chapter for taking so long to update and for not updating until next Sunday due to vacation. Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 20**

Frank was confused. Even in his dreams, he knew that this shouldn't be happening. Nancy was safe, Ashley was safe and the bad guy was behind bars. '_Why is this happening?_' he thought frantically to himself.

It was a different location. Gone was the small dark room from his childhood that had haunted his nightmares the last few nights, in its place was a dark warehouse, not unlike the one where Nancy had been held.

He was feeling the same overwhelming feelings of panic, which was how he knew that even though everyone was safe, his nightmares were not over. He stood in the center of the large parking garage underneath the warehouse and shivered despite the sweat that poured down his face. He could hear whimpering, someone was whimpering and he whirled around to try and find the source. The parking garage was too dark to see more than a few feet in front of him but he stumbled forward in what he hoped was the general direction of the source of the noise.

He stumbled along for a few minutes, occasionally losing his footing and falling to the hard cement floor. He was sure that the whimpering sound was coming closer, that he was getting closer to the source.

"Frank?" someone whispered to his right and he turned quickly to see who it was. "Frank, help me." His brother stared back at him through terrified eyes, blood matting his hair to his forehead. He was kneeling on the cold cement of the warehouse with his hands behind his back

"Joe!" Frank called and ran toward his brother. He fell to his knees in front of Joe and began to frantically search for injuries, "where are you hurt?"

"Frank," Joe began to sway, "get away…it's not safe."

"What?" Frank leaned in closer to try and hear his brother's voice.

"Get…away…" Joe turned scared eyes on his brother.

Frank looked up just in time to see a blurred hand reach out from the darkness, pointing a gun at the back of Joe's head. Before Frank could react the gun exploded and Joe's lifeless body toppled over into his arms.

* * *

Frank would never get used to waking up in a cold sweat with his sheets wrapped around his legs, even though it had been happening to him quite a bit lately. He sat up quickly, breathing heavily and noticed for the first time that Nancy was sitting up on her elbows, a worried expression on her face.

"Frank?" she asked carefully.

"Joe died," Frank said and shuddered, "he died. He shot him and he died in my arms." Frank pushed the covers off of him, suddenly resenting how claustrophobic they made him feel. "I have to call him," Frank babbled and leaned over to grab his phone. He barely noted the early hour as he punched in his brother's number.

"Hello?" Joe's voice was groggy and thick with sleep.

"Joe," relief crashed over Frank at hearing his brother's voice. "You're okay."

"I was, until you called and woke me up. What time is it?" Joe asked.

"Early," Frank replied, "way too early. I just needed to make sure you were okay."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone while Joe's sleep addled brain began to clear, "another nightmare?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Frank shuddered as he remembered vividly the feeling of his brother's dead weight falling on him in the dark warehouse.

"Listen, Frank…do you want to talk about it?" Joe asked.

"No," Frank replied quickly, "No, I'm fine. I'll see you in a couple of hours." He hung up the phone and placed it back on his bed side table. He lay slowly down on his back and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "you needed to sleep and I woke you up."

"I know, how incredibly selfish of you," Nancy replied and Frank opened his eyes quickly and looked at her, "I can't believe you would be so self centered that you would have a nightmare about the death of your brother and then have the gall to wake me up screaming. Really Frank, how could you." A small part of Nancy felt bad for kicking him while he was down, but she knew that now was the perfect opportunity to nail her point from earlier home.

Frank was silent for a moment and then sighed, "You're right." He pulled her into his arms, "you're right."

"Of course I am," Nancy agreed and laid her head in the crook of his arm. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"You know the gist of it, but I can't talk about the details," Frank murmured and pulled the covers up around them. His calm voice betrayed his rapidly beating heart and Nancy lay listening to it until it finally started to slow down.

* * *

Later that morning Nancy got quietly out of bed, careful not to wake Frank up. She walked out to the kitchen and stifling a yawn began to make a pot of coffee. She was leaning against the counter taking that first wonderful sip when her phone began to ring. She grabbed it and answered it quickly, not wanting the sound to wake Frank.

"Hello?" she greeted the caller.

She was treated to a very angry diatribe, "your _boyfriend_ and his brother severely undermined the integrity of the FBI and everything we stand for! That they should go gallivanting around behind our backs, completely disregarding our need for protocol is unacceptable! They need to learn that the Bureau is not about hot shot detectives out to prove that they're as good as their famous father, this isn't about personal vendetta's it's about doing what's right for the good of the country, not some personal mission to help save _the love of your life_," the man sneered, "you need to get better control of your men, Agent Drew. If their secret undercover operation had gone the other way last night we'd be having an entirely different conversation. It's bad enough that a civilian was shot during their little escapade."

The whole time the man was raving Nancy stood in shock, she wasn't used to being woken up this way. She cleared her throat as the anger started to build, "excuse me, who am I talking to?" she asked in a falsely sweet voice.

"This is Agent Meyers, I'm acting director for Agent Burr," the voice replied.

"I see," Nancy set her coffee cup down. She didn't want to accidentally throw it across the kitchen and waste perfectly good coffee, "well, Agent Meyers your opinion of the Hardy's successful rescue attempt is very interesting indeed. I would think that the Bureau would be thankful that the Hardy's accomplished what you could not. Did they not single handedly come up with a plan that not only found the _correct_ warehouse," Nancy purposefully emphasized the word, "but also brought down a _very_ wanted criminal? Please correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that it is because of my _boyfriend_ and his brother that a scared little girl has been returned to her father and I had a wonderful night sleeping in an actual bed. Now, tell me again how much the Hardy's messed up your brilliant plan to rescue me."

"You would speak to your superior in this way?" the man sounded utterly shocked.

"You forget I'm still technically on vacation. I'll speak to you however I like," Nancy replied coldly and then hung up her phone. She looked up to the doorway and saw Frank grinning at her, his hair mussed from sleep. "Good morning," Nancy said primly and picked up her coffee cup. She took an innocent sip and smiled as Frank walked over to grab a cup of his own.

"What," he finally said, "was that?"

"That was me, giving the FBI a piece of my mind," Nancy replied nonchalantly.

"Really?" Frank smiled, "I liked it. It's very attractive when you get all fired up like that."

"Thank you," Nancy said with an answering smile.

"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble for talking to them that way?" Frank asked.

Nancy shrugged, "not really, I've actually been thinking that perhaps the FBI isn't the job for me after all."

Frank was stunned, "really?"

"Yeah," Nancy replied simply, "I might try something else for awhile; maybe I'll take up knitting." Frank choked on his coffee, "after all," Nancy continued with a smile, "we'll be living together now and so you can support me. I could take up all sorts of crafting hobbies; I have a ton of pictures I'd like to scrapbook."

Frank laughed, "Whatever makes you happy." He cleared his throat and said slyly, "It was also pretty attractive hearing my woman stand up for me like that," Frank leaned against the counter and took a sip of his coffee. He groaned appreciatively, "oh, I missed your coffee making skills."

Nancy laughed, "Is that all you missed?"

Frank pretended to think long and hard, "now that you mention it. You do make a killer omelet."

Nancy roared with laughter and then kissed Frank's cheek, "I'll take the hint and make myself useful in the kitchen."

Pretty soon they were sitting down to a breakfast of hash browns and a southwestern style omelet. "I've been thinking," Frank said after taking a bite of egg, "we can grab Greg."

Nancy paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, "how?"

"We use Roman and Eric; get them to help us grab Greg when he gets into town. Get him to confess somehow," Frank shrugged, "it was actually my father's idea."

Nancy was silent, "we hardly have any time to come up with plan." Her eyebrows creased in concentration, "we wouldn't have any backup, there's no way this is going to be easy to work out." She paused for a moment, "it would make the FBI crazy."

"Yes," Frank agreed.

"Let's do it," Nancy's eyes gleamed, "I mean, how can we _not_ try. It's the perfect opportunity to grab Greg and see if we can get him for all of those charges. The man is illusive. He's not running free just because there isn't enough hard evidence for the Scott-Reynolds case, he's a good runner. The FBI thinks he's been out of the country for several years."

"Let's call dad and Joe and get this thing worked out," Frank said quickly.

"Let's call Michael too," Nancy said and grabbed their plates to bring to the dishwasher.

"You want to involve the FBI?" Frank asked incredulously.

"No, but Michael is a good in. He'll help us if we need it and besides Roman is in FBI custody. If we're going to need him, we're going to need the FBI's cooperation. I have a feeling that I don't have that right now, but Michael does," Nancy loaded the dishes.

Frank nodded, "that makes sense. Let's do this then."

Nancy smiled, "yeah, let's do this."

* * *

"Are you ready?" Joe asked Eric, looking at the man in the rearview mirror. Eric nodded his skin pale and clammy. They were scheduled to pick Greg up at the small private airstrip in fifteen minutes; they were still waiting for his plane to arrive.

"Yeah," Eric swallowed audibly, "I sure hope this works. Greg isn't an idiot; he won't be as easily fooled as Roman was." Eric licked his lips nervously and tried not to think about the dull pain in his arm. The doctor had been furious when Eric had checked himself out of the hospital, but when Nancy and the Hardy's had approached him with their plan he knew he needed to try and help however he could.

"Don't worry Frank, Nancy and Michael are going to be following us and listening," Joe felt the wire he was wearing and couldn't help but feel very James Bond. "They'll know what's going on at all times."

Eric just nodded and looked out the window, "there's the plane." He pointed with his good arm at the small aircraft making its way onto the runway.

"Show time," Joe said and laughed, "I've always wanted to say that. It sounds so gunslinger melodramatic. Its show time," he repeated in a slow southern drawl.

Frank's voice crackled in Joe's ear, "I know you're not used to working with microphone's Joe so I'm going to give you a pass on that last comment. We can just chalk it up to an embarrassing moment where you weren't aware that anyone else was listening to you."

"Please be quiet," Joe responded happily, "I'm very busy and important right now. I'm going to be single handedly, with the help of our friend Eric here, bringing down one of the worst criminals in history in just a few moments."

Frank laughed in Joe's ear, "Only because you happened to win the argument."

"Paper covers rock every time," Joe responded gleefully. He was glad to be trading jibes with his brother and he knew that Frank was doing it for his benefit. He knew that Frank was extremely worried and worked up over Joe being the one to lure Greg Atkinson into a confession. He and his brother had fought vehemently for the role of driver until Joe had suggested the old standby, Rock Paper Scissors. Joe had won and Frank had been relegated to sitting in the van monitoring communications with Nancy.

Joe pulled his hat lower on his face and adjusted his sunglasses. The only drawback to this assignment he thought to himself was the need to wear a suit. He had insisted on getting one of those driver hats that you see limo drivers wearing all the time, he had wanted to complete the ensemble and hide his face, just in case Greg recognized him.

Joe drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently and watched the airplane taxi down the runway and come to a stop.

* * *

Greg Atkinson sat in the small airplane and examined his perfectly manicured nails. Not a speck of dirt or a wayward hangnail dared show itself on his perfect fingers. He didn't allow insubordination from anything…or anyone.

He glanced quickly at his watch and noted the time, they were right on schedule, just the way he liked it. His pilot had learned his lesson when he had delivered Greg to his destination ten minutes late. They were never late again.

The airplane phone rang and Greg gave a thought to letting it go. He didn't have time to be answering any more whiny phone calls. He was in the middle of fixing the last whiny phone call he had received from his idiotic brother Roman.

Finally, annoyed at the sound of the ringer Greg leaned forward, "what?"

"Sir, I have an urgent message for you," his secretary knew to get right to the point; "a Larry Sims needs to speak to you right away."

"Tell him I'm busy," Greg snarled, he didn't have time for this, he had a villa full of beautiful women to get back to.

"Sir, he says it's about Roman, he's been arrested."

This caught Greg's attention, "is he on the phone now?"

"Yes sir," she replied.

"Put him through," Greg ordered and watched as the pilot began their descent to the runway. He could see the limo he had requested waiting for him.

"Hello? Mr. Atkinson," a weedy voice said in his ear.

Greg cringed; he couldn't handle men who felt the need to constantly whine, "Yes, what do you know?"

"Roman's been arrested sir," the voice responded.

Greg clenched his teeth, "when?"

"Last night, I tried to call you earlier but you're a very difficult man to get a hold of," the voice was whiny again.

Last night? Greg was stunned, he had talked to Roman this morning and he had assured Greg that everything was fine. Greg clenched his fist: he had been set up. "What happened?" Greg said through the white hot fury that clouded his brain.

"I don't know, I was playing darts and I heard a noise. I went to investigate and this blonde kid, built like a quarterback came charging after me. Next thing I know I'm running for my life."

"Interesting," Greg said and hung up the phone. The plane taxied down the runway and he stared out the window, contemplating his next move.

Someone was going to pay, someone _always_ paid.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I'm back! Thanks to all for your patience and for reading and reviewing. Now, let us finally see what happens next!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 21**

"Remember Joe," Frank's voice crackled in his ear, "go straight to the warehouse, no detours. Eric will try and get a confession out of Greg and we'll grab Greg when you get there."

"I know the plan Frank," Joe replied, his hands gripping the wheel tightly, "I was there when we came up with it."

"I'm just reminding you," Frank said stiffly.

Joe took pity on his brother, knowing how much stress he was under from the nightmares that seemed to be hell-bent on plaguing him every night. "I know you are. Thank you." Joe eyed the plane as it came to a stop on the runway, "he's here."

"Be careful," Frank urged his brother in a low voice.

"I will be," Joe responded and glanced at Eric in the rearview mirror, "are you ready?"

"Yeah," Eric gulped his face ashen from pain and nerves. Joe hoped fervently that Eric's nervousness would be misinterpreted by Greg…that he would think Eric was nervous over seeing him after so much time and not because he was double crossing him.

Joe stepped out of the limo and buttoned his suit jacket. He waited next to the car as the door of the plane opened and steps came down to rest on the tarmac. His eyes narrowed behind his dark sunglasses as Greg Atkinson appeared on the top step.

Joe immediately thought that Greg was something of a letdown. He had imagined a polished, suave man who radiated authority. The man who was currently walking down the steps did radiate authority, but he was pudgy and soft. His blonde hair was thinning badly and his hairline was receding. His short pudgy fingers were clutching a briefcase and Joe stepped forward to grab the bags from the pilot.

This was the infamous man who tortured anyone who got in his way? This was the man responsible for the rape and murder of two women and their entire families? It hardly seemed possible, until Joe got a closer look at the man's face. Joe had seen his fair share of cold blooded killers and he knew the face of one when he saw it. This man was no joke.

Greg looked at the limo driver in front of him and noticed immediately the blonde hair sticking out from under the hat. Greg hid a smile, this was almost comical.

"How was your flight, sir?" Joe asked and followed slightly behind him carrying the bags.

Greg stopped and turned to face Joe, "you don't speak to me unless I speak to you first. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Joe said through clenched teeth. The man's voice had been exactly what he had expected: cold and lifeless.

Joe set the bags down to open the door for Greg who climbed into the back of the car. Joe shut the door a little harder than he should have and picked the bags up to put in the trunk. "He's in the car," he murmured into his microphone.

"Calm down Joe," Frank advised in his ear, "I can practically hear you fuming."

"You don't speak to me unless I speak to you, understand?" Joe said mimicking Greg's words.

"Loud and clear brother," Frank let out a single chuckle, "you're going to hate it, but I'm going to remind you again to be safe."

"Yeah, yeah," Joe muttered as he approached the driver's side door, "loud and clear brother."

"Good," Frank replied and then grew silent.

Joe opened the car door and settled himself into the seat, catching the tail end of Greg's sentence, "…surprised that you had come back to us."

Joe glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Eric fidget uncomfortably, either from pain or from nervousness, Joe wasn't sure. "Living straight didn't agree with me. I like making money easily. Living straight, you have to work too hard for your money. It's overrated."

"I see," Greg murmured and reached over to the bar and poured himself a drink. "Scotch?"

"Please," Eric said and stretched out his good hand for the glass. He was proud of himself for keeping his hand steady.

It did not escape Greg's notice that Eric favored his right arm. It hadn't taken much to learn that his dear friend Eric had gotten himself shot in the melee of last night. Greg sat back and sipped his scotch, enjoying having the power, being the one in control. He knew that he had been set up and yet he was completely at ease knowing he would soon have the situation turned in his favor.

For now he would bide his time, "Eric, my brother, I thought you wanted to leave this life. I thought that the things I do utterly disgusted you."

"I can learn to live with it if it means I won't have to scramble for money anymore," Eric replied and downed the contents of his glass.

"But what I did to those women…and their families," Greg said and moved to sit next to Eric, who stiffened when Greg almost brushed against his injured arm, "what I did to you." Greg murmured and pulled Eric's shirt collar open to reveal his burned flesh.

Joe's hands gripped the wheel, waiting for Greg to give them the damning evidence they would need to put him behind bars for good.

"I can forget those things," Eric replied and tried hard not to recoil from Greg's touch.

"I raped those women Eric," his voice taking on a boasting quality. He was completely unconcerned that someone might be listening to everything he was saying, he was that confident in himself and his ability to get out of any situation. He was flying high on the adrenaline and power of knowing that he could do anything he wanted, "Their screams did nothing to stop me. Their children's cries…"

"Enough!" Eric held up a shaking hand, "I don't need details, as long as I don't have the details I can handle it."

"Oh, but I want to give you the details," Greg whispered and proceeded to describe every aspect of his killing spree. By the time he was finished Joe could barely see from the red haze that blurred his vision. It took all he had to keep the limo on the road, the grisly images Greg had painted playing like a horrible movie in his head.

Eric sat in the back seat, pale and shaking. "Can you handle it little brother?" Greg whispered staring at Eric's face intently, "that wasn't the first time I had done something like that either. I have an entire filing cabinet devoted to my journals on the subject. You should read them sometime."

"No," Eric shook his head angrily, "I won't. I don't need to."

"Oh, I think you do," Greg smiled, "I even taped a few of my more interesting escapades." Greg leaned back in his seat and sighed in contentment, "it's too bad I don't have a camcorder right now."

It took Eric a moment before the implication of Greg's words sunk in. He lifted terrified eyes up to look at Greg's cool, calculating ones and knew he was looking at his death.

* * *

Nancy sat in the back of the van with Michael and Frank, listening to Frank and Joe trade quips. She turned to Michael, "the FBI is being pretty forthcoming about lending us all of this equipment and allowing Joe and Frank to play such a vital role in all of this."

Michael carefully avoided Nancy's eyes as he adjusted some controls, checking for the fourth time that the tape was running and recording every sound inside the limo, "yeah, I might have lied a little bit."

Nancy's eyes narrowed, "lied a little bit?"

"Yeah," Michael replied still not meeting his partner's gaze, "I was put in charge of an information reconnaissance mission. I stretched that out into something a little bigger than that."

"Really?" Nancy was speechless. Her by the book partner had broken the rules…in a big way, "and you're not worried about what the FBI is going to think?"

"Of course I am," Michael snapped and then smiled, "but it feels kind of good to break the rules."

"You're such a rebel," Nancy returned his smile.

"Hardly, but it feels good just the same," Michael adjusted his earphones and listened into the conversation. Nancy turned her attention to Joe's voice as it crackled through the speakers.

"Loud and clear brother," he muttered and Nancy saw Frank smiled tightly.

"Good," he said into the mike and then grew silent. Nancy listened eagerly as Greg began to speak. Her spine stiffened as Greg taunted Eric with the details of his crimes. She shared a horrified look with Frank as the man's voice grew passionate through the re-telling.

Frank's mind went numb as he heard Greg methodically detailing the events of that horrible night. Two thoughts raced through his mind. One, that Nancy had been so close to being at the mercy of this ruthless killer and two, that his brother was now stuck with this madman.

Nancy watched Frank's jaw clench in fury and she reached over to grab his tightly closed hand in hers. He relaxed his fist and grasped her hand desperately. He could feel the tremors shiver through Nancy's body and he gripped her hand tighter in reassurance.

"He's confident," Michael murmured as his hand raced over his pad of paper taking notes, "that's concerning."

Nancy looked at her partner and frowned, "you think he knows something is up," she stated quietly.

"He's bragging," Michael murmured, "he's overly confident, he knows he's going to get out of this."

Frank's eyes grew dark, "my brother…" he began angrily but Michael cut him off.

"Can handle himself, I'm sure," Michael said quickly, "right now what we need to focus on is figuring out Greg's plan, what moves he's planning on making. If we can anticipate him, we can cut him off."

Nancy glanced at Frank quickly and tried to look reassuring, "its okay Frank, Joe is going to be fine." Even as she said the words she knew that his nightmare from last night was playing over again in his mind.

"Joe died in a warehouse," Frank murmured and closed his eyes, "he died in a warehouse and they're driving toward a whole bunch of them as we speak."

* * *

Joe remained calm even though he knew that they had been discovered. Somehow Greg had figured out that he had been set up. He glanced in the rearview mirror and hoped that Greg didn't think he was involved in any way. If he thought it was only Eric betraying him, Joe might be able to use the element of surprise to his advantage.

His gaze locked on the road ahead of him, they would be arriving at the warehouse and relative safety, in a matter of moments. He just had to think of what to do once they got there, because he was sure that Greg would not being going quietly.

The agonized scream from the back seat had Joe jerking the wheel in his hand before straightening the car and looking in the rear of the vehicle. Greg had his fingers dug into Eric's shoulder, fresh blood pouring out of his wound.

"Does it hurt brother?" Greg whispered and twisted his hand viciously. Eric screamed in pain and tried to break Greg's iron grip on his arm, but it was clear the pain was quickly sapping his energy.

Joe started to pull the car off to the side of the road, intent on putting a stop to this. After all, Greg was only one person and he was puny and chubby. Joe felt sure that he could take him.

"What are you doing?" Greg demanded from the back seat "stay on the road or I'll kill him. You don't want his blood on your hands." Greg twisted Eric's already hurt arm into an unnatural angle, blood simply seeping out of the reopened wound.

Joe could hear the true intent in the man's voice and so stayed on the road. They would be at the warehouse in a matter of moments anyway, where the FBI was waiting as backup.

"Turn left here," Greg ordered from the backseat and Joe glanced at him, "you didn't think I'd actually let you drive me all the way to the warehouse, did you?" Greg sneered, "I'm smarter than Roman, Joseph Hardy."

Joe stiffened at hearing his name and turned the car left but stayed stubbornly silent. "What's wrong young Hardy? Am I messing up all your carefully laid plans? How far away is your big brother?" Greg twisted Eric's arm again and Eric let out a painful gasp, his head hanging.

"You're way outnumbered here, Greg," Joe said conversationally, "I don't know how you think you're going to get out of this one."

"You don't know me very well, do you?" Greg laughed, "That's okay, I love being underestimated. Turn right."

Joe turned right and followed the narrow road. He glanced in his rearview mirror but saw no one, but that didn't make him nervous. He knew his brother was listening and monitoring his every move. It was only a matter of time before this all came to an end.

"My brother Roman wasn't the only one with a handy warehouse," Greg boasted, "I am very well connected."

Greg directed Joe to a rather small warehouse and instructed him to slow down before entering the parking garage, "we don't need you anymore brother." He gave one last vicious yank on Eric's bleeding arm, opened the car door and shoved him out of the moving vehicle. It was too late for Joe to try and slow down when he realized Greg's intent and so watched helplessly in his side mirror as Eric's body fell to the pavement and rolled away from the car.

"Park and get out, don't try anything," Greg demanded as Joe entered the parking garage and he did as he was told. Joe climbed out of the car and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"I've had a lot of those pointed at my face," Joe said evenly, "I don't think it has the desired effect you'd like it to have on me."

"Shut up," Greg replied just as evenly, "call your brother."

"Why?" Joe's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "let's you and me finish this right now, just the two of us."

"Oh, I intend just that. Call your brother," he repeated the command, the gun still pointing directly at Joe's face. "Move slowly."

Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, "Frank," he said a moment later.

"Joe? What's going on? We followed you to the warehouse and found Eric," Frank's voice was thick with worry.

"Say exactly what I tell you to say, nothing more," Greg instructed and Joe nodded. "Say, 'don't even think of coming in here until I contact you again. He will shoot me if you do.' Say it." Greg instructed.

"Say, don't even think of coming in here until I contact you again. He will shoot me if you do. Say it," Joe said sarcastically and Greg howled with rage. He brought his hand and gun down savagely onto Joe's head and sent him to his knees. Joe swayed and groaned as his vision dimmed but he laughed, "I was just doing what you told me to." He responded, still holding the phone to his ear, his brother's voice coming frantically out of the earpiece.

"Enough," Greg said and took a deep breath, "tell your brother to wait for further instruction."

"Wait for further instruction," Joe said woozily, "man Frank, can't we ever get mixed up with an original criminal? They always say and do the same things." He hung up the phone and rested back on his knees. He looked up at Greg and the man's face spun dizzily in his vision, "let me guess, next you're going to beat the ever living crap out of me followed by a tortured phone call to my brother, demanding that he come in to save me." Greg lifted his gun hand and brought it smashing into Joe's cheek. Joe could feel the coppery taste of his own blood filling his mouth and he spit it out as he tried to remain upright on his knees.

Greg smiled, "not exactly. I happen to be one of the few original criminals. Believe me; I know a lot about making people suffer."

"That's what they all say," Joe said defiantly.

"Yes, but none of them are telling the truth," Greg reached into the front of the car and popped the hood. He walked to the back of the car and pulled out his suitcase. He set it on the pavement and unzipped it carefully.

Joe knew that he should try to stand up and take advantage of Greg in his vulnerable position but he couldn't bring his legs to move. The floor spun sickeningly around him. He was helpless but to watch as Greg removed something wrapped in a thick cloth from his bag.

"This," Greg whispered reverently, "is something can inflict great pain with the smallest of touches." For the first time Joe felt the fear settle itself firmly in his gut, "but it inflicts even greater pain when used with tremendous force." He set the wrapped package on the garage floor and pulled out a plastic bag filled with what looked like raffia.

"You're going to wrap raffia around me?" Joe's voice was filled with false bravado. "My fiancée uses that on gifts, it's a terrifying thing," his voice dripped with all the sarcasm his muddied brain could muster but inside he was quickly starting to panic.

Greg chuckled, "you're going to be fun to break." He pulled a pair of gloves out of his bag and put them before he pulled a few of the sturdy looking strands from the bag and gave them a testing tug. "Through my travels I have come in contact with many different torturing methods. I spent an enjoyable amount of time learning from a retired Iraqi, formerly a member of the Republican Guard. He taught me something he had picked up in Japan, a device used by the Japanese to restrain their victims."

He ran his fingers down the curious rope and smiled, "something that would not only make it impossible for their victims to escape, but would inflict pain at the same time." Greg gave the reeds another experimental yank, "I was curious how they worked and I can assure you from experience that they are even worse than you can imagine."

Joe tried feebly to get to his feet and Greg watched with a bemused expression on his face. Joe finally stood and swayed for a moment before he charged at Greg, letting out a wild yell. Greg absorbed the blow and the two rolled around on the floor of the warehouse.

For someone so soft and pudgy looking, Joe was surprised at how amazingly fast and agile Greg was. They struggled for a moment before Greg was able to slam Joe's head hard into the pavement, momentarily blinding him. Joe groaned as Greg pulled his arms behind his back and secured them tightly with the twine.

Joe screamed in agony as the rope cut into his flesh, what felt like a thousand little knives shooting fire into veins stabbed his wrists. He expected the pain to dull but it seemed only to intensify.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Greg said breathlessly, triumphantly. He yanked the rope again and Joe screamed again, just as loudly as before.

"When I show you what I have in store for you, when you see what's under that cloth, you're going to beg for mercy and when I'm finished with you I'll move on to your brother and anyone else who stands in my way. No one stands in my way," Greg yanked again on the rope and Joe gasped in pain, the sound ending on a tortured sob.

* * *

Outside in the van Frank yanked off his headphones, sweat pouring down his forehead. The sound of Joe's tortured voice continued to echo around the inside of the van. "I have to go in there," he said frantically.

Joe screamed then and Frank moaned loudly, "he's torturing him." Frank said thinly and he shivered. It was strange, but he could almost feel the pain Joe was going through. Joe screamed again and Frank jerked in response, the sound cutting him to the very core, "he's torturing Joe."

Nancy thought desperately, _'he's torturing both of you.'_

* * *


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Sorry I didn't get the chance to post this chapter yesterday, but the first day back at work after a vacation can be excruciating! Can no one figure out how to do any work while I'm gone? Sheesh! lol

No one said anything about this, but I re-read Chapter 21 last night and I realized that I didn't really explain the rope Greg is using on Joe very well. We live in such a sadistic world I'm sure something similar to it exists, but the rope is completely made up. It's not really raffia, but it _looks_ a lot like raffia… :) It's so fictional that I didn't even come up with a name for it. lol.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of short but I just wanted to get it out as quickly as possible...maybe I'll try and post another short chapter later!

Okay, I'm done rambling now…on to the story! Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 22**

"Have you had enough?" Greg whispered in Joe's ear. Joe was lying on his stomach panting and Greg was sitting on his legs.

Joe was shaking uncontrollably, the pain from the ropes that held him was beginning to travel up his arms, his hands were numb. "I thought you were good at this," Joe said through clenched teeth.

Greg merely growled low in his throat, "you're so defiant, but I can see you're close to your breaking point."

"Get your eyes checked," Joe suggested and his voice shook when his body trembled against his will, "I've been through worse."

"Oh really?" Greg's eyes glistened as he gained his feet and flipped Joe on his back. The pain of laying on his bound arms, causing the rope to cut even further into his flesh had him crying out.

"Yeah," Joe said through clenched teeth. Part of him knew that it was a bad idea to bait this man, if there was ever someone who would follow through on his promises it seemed to be Greg Atkinson. However, the more dominant part of him, the fighter, wouldn't give up. If there was one thing Joe Hardy loved to do, it was cause as much frustration for criminals as possible. "It's a day at the beach," he added for good measure.

Greg simply stared at him, stunned. He had come across a few people who tried to remain stoic under his ministrations but they were quickly and easily broken. He had never, in all his years of practicing the fine art of torture come across someone who was so…irritating. He couldn't believe someone who was so clearly under his control would risk his own life for a mere witty comeback. It puzzled him greatly.

"You're a confusing creature," he muttered under his breath and smoothed his shirt down over his pudgy stomach, "why do you try and infuriate me?"

"It's what I do, just ask my brother," Joe said and shrugged. He immediately regretted the action however as a wave of pain ran up the length of his arms and seemed to settle in the middle of his back.

"Perhaps I shall," Greg murmured, "he is, after all, right outside. Maybe we should invite him in to join the party."

The idea of his brother going through any part of the pain he was currently going through had Joe struggling violently against his bonds, almost oblivious of the pain that now seemed to be in every nook and cranny of his entire body. He struggled to his knees, the pain robbing him of his breath so that he was left panting, "you will leave Frank out of this," he glared at Greg and he shook from rage and pain, "you will not touch my brother!"

"And what will you do about it, huh?" Greg taunted and walked back over to his bag, "are you in any position to save your dear older brother? Are you in any position to stop me if I called your brother right now and invited him to join us?"

Joe was at a loss, the anger and pain creating a weird mix and causing him to have trouble thinking, "please," he begged, "please, not Frank."

Greg smiled, "I can see you're beginning to break and we haven't even come to the main event yet," he pointed at the object wrapped in cloth, "this device was a favorite of my friend, the one I was telling you about earlier? He says it's been the most effective tool in his arsenal. Would you like to know what it does?"

Joe didn't say anything but was shocked to feel tears welling up in his eyes, the threat to Frank was a clutching fear in his chest, so strong he could barely think straight. He didn't care what he had to do, there was no way he was going to let this man get anywhere near his brother.

* * *

Frank pounded his fist angrily on the small table in the back of the van and looked at Nancy and Michael, his eyes wild, "this has to stop. I have to stop this."

Joe's voice filled the air, "please, please not Frank."

The sick fear that had settled in the pit of Frank's stomach quickly turned into a panic he could barely manage. Joe never begged and here he was, pleading with Greg sounding entirely too desperate. His worry for his brother exploded violently in his chest, staggering him. Frank turned quickly to Michael, "do we know the layout of this building?"

"There's a back entrance to the parking garage, but that's all I know," Michael replied tersely, his fingers flying across the keyboard, "I'm working on getting the blueprint now. Ten minutes, probably."

"Joe doesn't have ten minutes," Frank growled. He turned quickly and opened the back doors of the van and jumped out, Nancy following quickly behind him.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"I'm going in to get my brother," Frank's eyes were dark and focused on the back of the warehouse.

"Okay, I'm coming with you," Nancy reached down and checked her gun. Frank's hands on her shoulders stopped her and had her looking up into his haggard face.

"No," Frank said simply, "you're staying here."

"What?" Nancy was incredulous, "I can help you, Frank."

"I can't be worried about you," Frank shook his head, "you have to stay here."

"Frank, we've been over this before…" Nancy began angrily, ready to give him a piece of her mind but Frank cut her off.

"Listen to me, Nancy. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone else besides my brother. I'm going into that warehouse to rescue Joe; I can't be worried about both of you at the same time. The human body can only take so much. Please," he whispered.

Nancy swallowed and nodded in understanding, "alright. I guess it's my turn to sit on the sidelines and worry."

"Thank you," Frank leaned down to kiss Nancy's forehead.

"Be safe," Nancy ordered.

"I will," Frank replied and dashed to the back of the building. Nancy watched him go before climbing back into the van to sit and wait with Michael.

Joe's anguished cries and Greg's gleeful laughter caused shivers to run down her spine until she had to cover her ears. It didn't help; she could still hear everything it was just more muted now. Nancy closed her eyes tightly, willing it all to be over soon.

* * *

"Well?" Greg asked as he leaned down to pick up the package, "do you want to know what it is?"

Joe took a deep breath and tried to focus on something else besides the pain. Vanessa's smiling face swam murkily into view and he sighed, pushing the pain to the back corner of his mind, trying to lock it away. Joe smiled sarcastically, "my mom always hated it when I guessed what the Christmas gifts were every year. I was almost always right."

"Well, you won't be right about this one," Greg responded and set the package on the floor. "First however, we need to do a little…maintenance." He reached into his bag and pulled out something that Joe could see very well from his angle. "We need to shave your head," Greg said simply.

"I just had my hair cut, thanks," Joe replied as he swayed woozily on his knees.

"We won't need to shave your entire head, just parts of it," Greg informed him, "and don't worry. You won't be bald, just buzzed."

"Perfect, I've always wanted to try that look," Joe replied and could barely resist when Greg grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back. Flipping on the razor he shoved it ruthlessly into his thick blonde hair starting at his temple. Joe winced as the razor made contact with the gash on the side of his head, he could feel a fresh trickle of blood make its way down the side of his head.

Greg dragged the razor all the way back, creating an uneven line. He brought the razor back and widened the strip of buzzed cut hair. He yanked Joe's head to the other side and repeated the process. He then pushed Joe's head forward and shaved a patch at the very base of his skull.

"Very nice," Greg murmured and pulled Joe back to an upright sitting position. Joe started to sway over to the left but Greg yanked him back to his knees, "stay upright," he ordered.

Joe could barely keep his head up and he stared at the pile of blonde hair scattered around him. It was the oddest thing, but he actually felt sad at the parting of his blonde hair, he wasn't a vain person but he was well known for his blonde hair while Frank was known for his brown. It was an identifying feature that he found distinctive. Now it was gone. It was bizarre to feel sad about it considering the situation he currently found himself in, but he couldn't help it.

"Let's take a little look at that chest hair," Greg said and pulled open Joe's shirt, "if you have too much chest hair we're going to have to do some manscaping," he chuckled at the word. He inspected Joe's chest and nodded in approval, "doesn't look like I need this anymore. Not much hair there," he tossed the razor in his bag.

"My fiancée likes it," Joe said flippantly.

"I'm sure she does," Greg walked back to the mysterious package and began to unwrap it. "Ah, the moment has arrived," he said triumphantly and Joe watched as he pulled an odd looking black box with several wires attached to it from out of the cloth. "This, my friend, causes pain at the merest touch. It causes even more pain when I use it at my desired level. I always start at my desired level."

Greg set the box in front of Joe and began to attach the wires to Joe's head and chest, "you expect me to be afraid of a little electric shock?" Joe said his eyes closing against the dizziness, "I had high hopes that you were actually good at this."

Greg snorted, "You think all you're in store for is a little electric shock?" He laughed loudly, "Oh Joseph, this device is so much more than that." He reached back into his bag and pulled out a camera, "smile Hardy, for posterity's sake."

"You son of a…" Joe began but Greg held up a hand and cut him off.

"I like to take pictures, so the family can remember their loved ones if the worst should happen as a result of my torture. I like to think it brings them comfort, seeing their friend of family member in their last moments of living," Greg snapped a picture and Joe could only shudder, hoping fervently that his family would never see these pictures. He could only imagine what he looked like, how devastating it would be for Frank and Vanessa, his parents to see him like this. He gritted his teeth as Greg continued to take pictures.

Greg set the camera down, "and now…for the main event," he leaned down and fiddled with a knob on the black box. When he flipped a switch, Joe was amazed that he didn't feel a thing. That is until the first wave of shocks came and visions of his worst nightmares seemed to explode in his head. His body writhed in agony and pain as he saw in his mind the vicious murder of Frank, Vanessa, his parents, Nancy…everyone he cared about brutally and savagely killed.

Joe could feel himself begin to despair and he began to sob through the pain.

* * *

Frank approached the back of the warehouse as quickly and quietly as he could, not daring to move any faster for fear that Greg would hear him. He approached the back door and twisted the handle cautiously. He opened it a crack and saw that it led into a small room with a door and two windows. He rushed quickly inside and peered through one of the windows.

He was looking out into the warehouse, which wasn't completely dark but partially lit up by the overhead lights. A scream ripped through the air and yanked at his heart savagely, _'Joe!'_

All thoughts of avoiding detection flew from his mind as he yanked the door into the parking garage open. He didn't care if Greg found him now; in fact he _wanted_ Greg to know he was here. He _wanted_ Greg to come after him, he thirsted for it. He thirsted for the bloody battle he was ashamed that he craved. The last couple of days with the memories of him and Joe being kidnapped as children, his inadequacy at being able to help and find Ashley and Nancy, the nightmares of Joe's death and now this seemed to bubble forth in a wicked hatred aimed at one man: Greg Atkinson.

His promise to Nancy to stay safe was completely forgotten, _'this is one deal I'll be finishing in less than three minutes,' _he promised himself.

Frank was known for his even temperament while Joe was usually the one to fly off the handle, but not this time. Joe's life was very obviously being threatened and it threw Frank into a wild frenzy. He charged forward into the murky darkness and called out for his brother, eager to meet Greg and finally, finally finish this.

* * *


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Your reviews prompted me to write this chapter and post it today (I started to feel guilty for leaving you all hanging. lol)…so; here it is…two chapters in one day! WHOA NOW! Thanks for reading! (and P.S. this chapter is much longer than the last one!)

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 23**

Frank ran through the garage and fought to separate his nightmare from reality, "Joe!" he cried and was met with only more tortured cries. They seemed to be coming at him from all directions and he spun around trying to find the right way. "JOE!" he yelled again.

"No!" Joe cried and Frank thought the sound was coming from straight ahead. He ran forward and went around a large concrete post to finally find his brother. "Joe?" he cried as he looked at his brother kneeling on the ground in front of him. He was curled into a tight ball on his knees, rocking back and forth in complete agony.

Frank rushed forward and put his arms around Joe, the last image from his nightmare, the hand shooting his brother in the back flashed through his mind and he quickly looked up, half expecting to see the barrel of a gun.

Seeing nothing Frank immediately turned to his brother who had his eyes screwed tight and seemed to be completely oblivious to his brother's protective arms wrapped around him. Frank could feel the spasms jolting Joe body and for the first time he truly took in Joe's appearance.

His brother's beautiful blonde hair was mangled, random strips had been shaved off and electrodes were attached to his head. Frank grabbed the wires and frantically ripped them off of his brother's scalp, leaving angry red circles in their places as if he had been burned.

The spasms subsided but did not die completely and Frank saw that even more wires ran up to Joe's chest. He ripped those off too and Joe toppled over into his brother's arms, "Shh, Joe…it's okay. It's Frank, I'm here," Frank tried to comfort his brother and keep his senses hyper alert. He knew that Greg was still around somewhere, he didn't want to risk getting caught off guard. His blood boiled when he looked at his broken brother and wanted nothing more than to hunt Greg down and yet still be able to offer comfort to his brother.

Frank noticed the ropes around Joe's wrists and quickly reached down to untie them. His hand recoiled in pain and shock upon touching the strange material, it felt like a thousand lightening bolts rocketing up his arms. "Joe?" he whispered, "Joe, can you hear me? It's Frank."

Joe jerked at this and tried to lift his head to look in his brother's eyes, blood covered one entire side of his face and he blinked slowly, trying to focus, "Frank?"

"Hey bro, yeah it's me," Frank tried to smile.

Joe's eyes widened in terror, "Frank, Frank you have to get out of here. Right now, get out…now!" Joe attempted to muster up as much strength as he could and started to pull away from his brother, "you have to go!"

Frank's eyes widened, this was exactly like his nightmare. His breathing grew heavy as he looked in every direction for the hand with the gun, pointing straight at his brother.

"Frank, so good of you to join us," Greg sauntered out from behind the car and smiled, holding what looked to be a long metal rod in his hands.

Frank didn't hesitate but let out a guttural yell and jumped to his feet. He charged straight at Greg and barely registered the satisfaction of seeing Greg's eyes open wide with shock. Frank had never been the best tackler on the football team; that had been Joe's area. Frank had always been the runner, able to dodge and feint quickly. Now he rammed into Greg with so much force both men lost their breath.

He spared a glance at his brother to make sure he was alright and was relieved to see Joe trying to sit up on his own. He had a fleeting second to wish that he had been able to get the horribly painful ropes off Joe before he felt a sharp blow to his midsection. Greg had taken advantage of Frank's momentary distraction and slammed the metal rod deep into Frank's gut.

Turning all of his attention back on Greg, Frank slammed the man's head into the ground. Once, twice, three times. Frank had never been so hell bent on killing someone, had never thought that he could be capable of such brutality. Instead of feeling ashamed however, he could only feel a sort of sick satisfaction at the blood that covered Greg's face.

"Let me tell you something," Frank said breathlessly, his eyes wild, "there's a game I've recently learned. It's called the Three Minute Deal." Frank yanked Greg's hair back by his hair, "it's when someone bets that the other person can't do something in three minutes or less."

Greg spluttered as if he was trying to say something but Frank pressed his arm against his throat, "I wasn't finished," Frank hissed slowly, "I bet that I can kill you in less than three minutes and not even feel _guilty_ about it."

Greg's eyes went blank as fear overcame him. He knew murder in a man's eyes when he saw it and he was looking at it right now. He struggled for breath but Frank only pressed his arm harder down on Greg's throat.

Frank let out another wild yell and yanked Greg to his feet, pushing his back against the limo, "you can do a lot in three minutes, inflict a lot of pain and payback."

Joe struggled to keep his eyes open, to focus on the blurry image of his brother. His addled brain could barely register what his brother was saying but he knew that he was witnessing a side of Frank he had never seen before.

Every fiber of his being screamed for him to succumb to the darkness that wanted to overtake him but Joe struggled to stay awake. He listened to Frank and knew he meant to kill Greg and part of him wanted to let him, wanted to see this evil man die. He wasn't proud of it, but there it was.

The other part of him knew that if he didn't do something, his brother would live with the guilt and knowledge that he had killed another human being for the rest of his life. No matter what the man had done, Frank would forever blame himself for letting his emotions take control, for not simply apprehending the suspect and letting the justice system they fought so hard for do its job.

If there was one thing in this world that Joe understood completely, it was his brother. He would not let his brother do this to himself. He tried to call out for Frank but the sound got stuck somewhere in his throat. He tried again, "Frank!" he called out and this time the sound came out in a barely audible whisper.

It was enough for Frank to hear however and he turned to face his brother, not loosening his grip on Greg, "Frank," Joe tried again and his voice was louder this time, "Frank, don't do it."

"Why not?" Frank asked angrily. "He deserves to die and I only have two minutes to make good on my promise."

"Frank…" Joe struggled to get up but found that he just didn't have the strength, "Frank, for me. Don't do this. Don't do something you'll regret."

Joe's words cut straight through Frank's white hot fury, _'Frank, for me.'_ No one else in the entire world could have talked him down at that moment besides his brother. Frank relaxed fractionally but still maintained his iron grip on Greg, who was turning red in the face.

"Come on," Greg egged him on, "you know I deserve it. You heard me describe how I raped those women. I wouldn't hesitate to do the same to your woman if given half the chance."

Frank yelled in fury and slammed Greg into the car, his vision red at the mention of Nancy, "No one asked you for your opinion!" Frank cocked his arm and punched Greg square in the jaw.

"Frank," Joe said weakly, "please don't…I don't want to lose my brother."

Frank stopped himself from punching Greg again and he realized that Joe was right. If he did this, if he murdered Greg in cold blood when he so obviously had the upper hand, he would no longer be himself. He would cease to exist as the Frank Hardy everyone knew.

Because a small part of him was still screaming for the death of Greg Atkinson Frank quickly knocked the man unconscious and stepped backward two full steps, breathing heavily. He watched as the man crumpled to the ground in a heap of sweat and blood.

"Frank," Joe said a few moments later, breaking the silence. Frank ripped his gaze away from Greg and turned to his brother. Ignoring the pain he knew he would feel Frank began to tear frantically at the rope binding his brother. Several excruciating minutes later Joe's arms fell free and he slumped forward. "I'm sorry Frank, but I think I'm going to pass out now," Joe said simply as his vision first began to gray and then went completely black.

Frank pulled his brother into his arms and let the first tears spring to his eyes and begin their slow descent down his cheeks.

* * *

A few hours later Nancy found herself sitting in the Emergency Room yet again only this time she couldn't tear her eyes away from Frank. He had been pacing restlessly back and forth before finally sitting down next to her and burying his head in his hands.

He had stayed like that, motionless for the last half hour. He was completely unmoving except for the slow rising and falling of his back from breathing. He had angrily refused medical attention for his mangled hands until Nancy had gone off in search of gauze and insisted on wrapping them herself.

Vanessa was sitting on Nancy's other side and she wrapped her arm around the worried girl's shoulders, "they said he's going to be okay," she whispered, her voice shaking, "they said they had to run some tests to see the extent of the damage but they said he was going to be okay," she seemed to be trying to reassure herself of that fact.

"Joe's been through a lot before, he'll pull through," Nancy squeezed Vanessa's shoulders and tried hard to repress a shudder. Frank had not told her anything that had happened in the parking garage, but she had heard it. She had spent the longest moments of her life in that van, unable to do anything even if she had wanted to, she was so frozen with fear. Nancy wasn't used to being frozen in fear but she now knew that the expression was no joke. She literally had not been able to move from that spot until Frank's voice had crackled over the speaker demanding help for his brother.

She sat here now, feeling horribly like an outsider to a family's pain. Laura and Fenton sat across from them, their heads bent together, whispering quietly to each other with Fenton's arm around Laura in support. Vanessa sat beside her, a tightly wound ball of nerves and worry. Frank sat on her other side and Nancy had no idea what was running through his head. She desperately wanted to reach forward and offer him the same comfort that Fenton was obviously providing for Laura, but she didn't know how she would be received.

Instead, she focused on talking to Vanessa in a low calm voice, making her laugh quietly over some quip Joe had made once upon a time. She tried hard to change the subject to the girls' impending trip to the dress shop on Monday. "I can't wait to see the bridesmaid dresses you've picked out for us," Nancy said, her voice low, "I bet they're beautiful."

Vanessa nodded, thankful for the distraction, "It was hard to pick a dress style that would flatter both you and Callie. You both have such different coloring."

"I bet," Nancy agreed.

The two women sat in companionable silence, each grateful that the other was there. One of them grateful to have a distraction from worrying about the man she loved, lying somewhere in the depths of the hospital and the other grateful for something else to think about when all she wanted to do was offer comfort to the man she loved, who was sitting right next to her.

The minutes passed slowly and still Frank did not move from his hunched over position. He shuddered once as if remembering some horrible detail. Nancy almost jumped when Frank abruptly lifted his head to stare at his father, "what's taking so long?" he demanded.

"They have to do an MRI, to make sure there's no…damage, from that device of Greg's," Fenton explained carefully, "it's a long process."

"They should be done by now," Frank grumbled and got quickly to his feet. He stood where he was for a moment as if shocked to find that he was standing. He let out a frustrated groan and then stalked across the room to head outside.

Nancy shared a look with Fenton and he nodded his head once, "he's ready to talk now," he said simply and Nancy nodded in return. She stood slowly and brushed her hands on her jeans, her palms suddenly sweaty.

She took a deep breath and headed to the doors Frank had just gone through. She stood on the sidewalk for a moment, letting the cool breeze brush against her cheeks as she steeled herself for the conversation she wasn't sure she was ready to have. She looked up and down the sidewalk and frowned when she didn't immediately see Frank.

She walked down the sidewalk and a moment later saw him, sitting on a bench staring straight ahead, his shoulders rigid and his hands clasped tightly in his lap. His posture screamed of a barely suppressed rage.

Nancy walked slowly over and sat down beside Frank, waiting for him to speak first. She took in her surroundings, watching people come and go from the hospital. A woman and her daughter were leaving the main building, the daughter sucking happily on a lollipop. An older gentleman was being pushed through the main doors by his wife, an ambulance blazed up the driveway to stop at the doors to the Emergency Room, signs that all around them things continued to happen.

Frank sighed and Nancy noticed his clenched knuckles begin to relax; his rigid posture began to smooth out. Nancy could sense that he would begin to speak at any moment and so kept her mouth shut.

"I could have very easily killed him," Frank said quietly and Nancy blanched, that was one of the last things she had expected to hear. Even though she had _heard_ everything that had gone on in that parking garage, she hadn't been there to see the true intent that had blazed in Frank's eyes. She chose not to say anything and waited for the flood gates to open. "I could have easily killed him," Frank said again and stood up, full of nervous energy. He paced a few steps away and his eyes found the same sight Nancy had seen a moment ago, the mother and her daughter walking toward the car. A band aid rested in the crook of the little girl's arm, probably from just giving blood. Some of the rage began to seep slowly out of him.

"I was so prepared to kill him and live with the consequences. I wanted to and I'm ashamed to admit it, but a small part of me still wishes I had." Frank turned haunted eyes onto Nancy's carefully composed face. "Does that make you cringe?" he demanded. He needed to know if knowing that affected the way Nancy felt about him. He was having a hard time coming to terms with that side of him, he loathed the part of himself that he had discovered and part of him knew that he wouldn't be able to stand it if he knew that Nancy loathed that part too.

"Tell me, does knowing that make you upset? Angry? Disgusted?" he threw his hands up in the air in frustration, "I need to know!"

"Frank," Nancy began carefully and stood. She stopped herself from walking to him, from putting her arms around him, "of course not."

"Of course not," Frank's eyes flashed, not believing her.

"Frank," Nancy did go to him now, stood just inches from him but was careful not to touch him, "Frank, if ever there was someone who deserved to die it was Greg Atkinson."

"So, you think I should have done it?" Frank asked quietly and hung his head.

"No, I don't," Nancy replied and Frank looked back up at her with confused eyes, "I don't think _you _should have killed him Frank. It would have destroyed you."

Frank was silent for a moment as he recalled his brother's words, _'please don't, I don't want to lose my brother.'_ Joe's pleading had been the only thing to pull him back from that dark ledge.

"God Nancy, I was so close," Frank said and pulled her into his arms.

"I know," Nancy shuddered as she recalled the conversation she heard in the van, "it was terrifying."

"I'm sorry I scared you," Frank said sincerely and pulled away slightly to look in her eyes.

Nancy smiled, "I'm so glad I didn't lose the Frank I know and love. It's exactly like you to apologize for doing something that was out of your control."

"I felt out of control," Frank murmured, "I've never _been_ so out of control before. Never."

Nancy laid her head on Frank's chest and sighed, listening to his steadily beating heart, "how are your hands?" she murmured.

"It felt like fire at first and everything went numb, but they're actually much better now. I hardly feel a thing." Frank replied.

"That's good," Nancy hugged Frank tighter.

"I hope that means that Joe's injuries from that rope will heal quickly," Frank said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps," Nancy agreed.

She wanted to ask him about what exactly had happened in the warehouse but she stopped herself. He must have sensed her curiosity because he said, "I can't talk about it right now, but I promise you, I will. I'm going to need you tonight, as soon as I know my brother is okay."

Nancy nodded in understanding and kept her ear pressed to his chest.

They stood like that for a moment in a silent embrace before Nancy felt Frank stiffen in her arms. She looked up at his face and saw his gaze fixed on the ER doors. His father stood outside them and motioned for them to come inside, "it's Joe. They've put him in a room. They're allowing visitors." The shaky smile on Fenton's face spoke of relief and happiness. "Your mother has just gone back to see him with Vanessa, he's only allowed two visitors at a time," the famous Fenton Hardy seemed to be rambling.

"Did they say how he was?" Frank asked his face a mask of concern.

"They said he's weak still but already wanting to leave the hospital," Fenton said with a watery smile.

"That's sounds like Joe," Frank tried to return his father's smile and enthusiasm but found that he couldn't, not until he had seen Joe. It sounded like that would be awhile, if his brother was only allowed two visitors at a time and his mother and Vanessa were already back there…Frank sighed and resigned himself to a very anxious wait.

He followed his father back into the waiting room but found that there was no way he could sit and be still. He paced the room and had to talk himself out of running into the ER and simply mowing over anyone who got in his way dozens of times. He was surprised when only a few minutes later his mother walked out into the waiting room.

Laura walked directly to stand in front of her son and placed both of her hands on his cheeks, "he wants to see you Frank. He's very worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Frank asked incredulously, "why?"

Laura smiled, "my sons share a powerful connection. He needs to see that you're alright just as much as you need to see that he is. Go, you both need each other."

"Thank you mom," Frank whispered and gave her a long hug. Turning quickly he dashed through the ER doors, hell bent on getting a good look at his brother.

* * *

**Phew, writing that chapter…it just **_**flowed**_**. I never knew how much writing could take out of a person! Let me know if there are many mistakes, I didn't check this chapter very carefully like I should have. :) **


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing…I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 24**

Vanessa sat on the edge of Joe's bed and smiled down at him. She brushed her fingers through what remained of his golden hair and let out a shaky sigh, it was ridiculous to be so upset by the loss of his beautiful tresses. And yet, here she was sighing over the loss.

"I know, I'm pretty torn up about my new hairstyle too," Joe said with a small smile.

"It's stupid, to be so upset…but I'm really going to miss running my fingers through your hair," Vanessa said sadly.

"I'll miss that too," Joe replied.

"Looks like we need to get you to a barber soon, no matter how cool you are I don't think anyone would be able to start this trend," she smiled.

Joe grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing it lightly, "will you do it?" he whispered.

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"Cut the rest of it off," Joe replied and smiled softly, "I'd like it if you were the one to do it. Besides, I don't think I should continue to sport this look much longer, people are going to think it's on purpose."

Vanessa sighed, "of course I will babe. I'll do it in the morning."

"Thank you," Joe said and pulled Vanessa down for a kiss.

* * *

Frank paused at the door to Joe's room, his hand resting on the doorknob. He hadn't realized that he was breathing heavily and he could only imagine how frantic his eyes must have looked. He took a moment to compose himself and took a deep breath. He noticed with a grimace that he still had spots of his brother's dried blood on his shirt.

It was too late now to change his shirt and so feeling considerably more relaxed, at least on the outside, Frank opened the door and stepped quickly inside. He smiled at what he saw in front of him, Vanessa was sitting on the edge of the bed gripping Joe's hand in hers, and laughing at some joke he had just told.

They both looked up when Frank came into the room and Vanessa smiled at him. "I'll leave you two alone," she said and leaned down to give Joe a quick kiss. "I'll be right outside."

"Thanks," Joe smiled and watched Vanessa leave. Frank smiled his thanks as Vanessa passed him and she leaned in to give him a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "Hey there," Joe said and struggled to sit up more.

Frank walked slowly over and stood next to the bed, examining his brother. Joe's head was bandaged and under the thick heavy gauze he could see the patches where Greg had buzz cut his hair. The varying lengths of hair sticking out from under the bandage seemed to make the entire situation worse. Joe's wrists were also heavily bandaged and he was moving stiffly. Frank could see an angry red mark peeking out from the top of his hospital gown on his chest.

"Look, I know I've looked better," Joe began seeing his brother's calculating and worried gaze, "but I really don't feel that bad." No sooner had he said the words than his body gave a small involuntary shudder. Joe winced and smiled wryly, "the doctor says that might be happening the next few days."

Frank had moved closer to his brother at his involuntary movement and now stood next to the bed, worry creasing his brow, "Joe…" he began but found he didn't know what to say.

Joe looked uncomfortable and started playing with the sheet that covered him, "yeah, it's no big deal," he shrugged and could barely cover the pain from the movement. "I'm not in a lot of pain, honest. It comes and goes, really."

"You're not in a lot of pain?" Frank asked in amazement. He pulled a chair up next to Joe's bed and looked at his brother in earnest, "how can that be possible? I mean, I'm glad…but I'm finding it hard to believe you."

Joe shrugged again, but was careful not to move too much, "it's true. The doctor says that the ropes binding me had some sort of toxin on them and that most of that toxin has already been cleaned from my system. Aside from the annoying trembles from the electric shocks, I'm good as new."

In spite of Joe's calm words Frank could see something continue to haunt Joe's eyes, "what is it Joe?" Frank asked. Not all injuries were physical, he knew.

Joe sighed; leave it to Frank to know right away when something wasn't right. "I feel fine physically," he began and sighed, "but…"

"But what, Joe?" Frank prompted when Joe seemed unwilling to continue.

"When Greg had me hooked up to that…thing. It wasn't just an electric shock; it was like…it was making me see beyond even my worst nightmares. My worst nightmare would be if you were killed or Vanessa or mom and dad and now Nancy. That device made me see that, but somehow made it worse than my most imaginative nightmares. You died, I could _see_ it in my head and you didn't just die, you died _horribly,_" Joe shuddered and this time it wasn't from the aftereffects of the device.

Frank was quiet before he finally spoke, "Joe, I'm so sorry."

Joe laughed derisively, "It's not your fault." He looked at Frank, "these physical injuries I'm already healing from, it's the emotional ones that are going to take some time."

Frank nodded amazed at how wise his younger brother sounded, "That was probably Greg's agenda from the beginning."

"Probably," Joe murmured and grew silent. He sat thinking for a moment and then his eyes grew wide, "Frank."

"Yeah?"

"I think I just…" Joe paused, "the er, visions I saw of you getting murdered, Vanessa everyone…I just realized that they were almost exactly like what Greg described to us in the car."

"The Schott-Reynolds case?" Frank asked growing anxious. He too, could remember vividly Greg's description of what he had done to those women and their families.

"Yes," Joe closed his eyes, "I saw the whole thing in my mind, only it was you and Vanessa getting…violated." Joe was deeply ashamed that such a horrible thought had ever even entered his mind and was afraid of what his brother would think of him. When Frank was only silent, Joe grew worried, afraid that his brother was disgusted by him.

Frank wasn't speaking because he had no idea what to say. He wanted to comfort Joe, assure him that the awful images were not of his making, but the words that came to his mind sounded silly and cliché. He knew he had to try however, because Joe looked so distraught.

"Joe, you have to know that _you_ didn't conjure up those…images," Frank began slowly, unsure of his footing. "During the car ride Greg planted those images in your mind and somehow that device made them come alive for you, using people you know and care about." Frank tried to remain logical but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Joe sighed, "It'll be awhile before I believe you."

"That's okay, I'll be here to help you every step of the way," Frank tried to smile. The brother's sat in silence for a moment, each thinking their own dark thoughts. Frank, his emotions warring inside of him tried to keep a calm face but all he could think about was how much Joe had been affected by all of this. That angry part of him, the part of him that he was embarrassed even existed screamed at him for not killing Greg while he had the chance for making his brother go through this. Frank hung his head in shame, not believing that he could have ever been capable of such violent thoughts.

Joe noticed his brother's anguish and immediately felt guilty for being so selfish with his own feelings while it couldn't be clearer how miserable his brother was. "Hey Frank," he said and Frank looked up, "stop beating yourself up. You're human."

Frank didn't say anything, just shook his head. Joe continued, angry now, "Listen to me! You're a human being; you can't be expected to be Saint Frank all the time!" Joe's voice lowered but he continued just as urgently, "believe me, I wanted Greg to die just as much as you did and perhaps I would have done it if the situation had been reversed, but I knew that killing him was something I couldn't let you do. No matter what you think, I don't think you _could_ have done it, even if I hadn't been there to stop you."

"I don't know Joe, I've never been so consumed by hate before," Frank murmured.

"If you had killed him, we would have lost you forever," Joe said simply.

The brothers shared a look and Frank sighed, "It'll be awhile before I believe you," he said, echoing his brother's words from earlier.

"That's okay," Joe laughed, "I can be very persuasive."

Frank snorted, "Persuasive? Try: annoying." The brother's smiled, each one bruised and broken in some form or another, but each immensely comforted that the other was there.

* * *

As soon as he closed the front door behind them, Frank pulled Nancy over to sit on the couch beside him. He pulled her tight into his chest and sighed in contentment. Even in a world where so much was wrong, he could still find peace.

They sat like that for a long time, each of them utterly content to just sit together. Frank finally broke the silence, "Joe and I talked."

Nancy nodded and waited for Frank to continue, "It's hard to describe, but my brother's forgiveness is something I really needed to have."

"You two are very close," Nancy murmured.

"Yeah, we are," Frank agreed and thought back to the long conversation he and Joe had had earlier. "I'm so lucky to have him as a brother."

"He's lucky to have you too," Nancy replied and kissed Frank's cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Frank nodded slowly and began to pour out his emotions and yet, they weren't as raw as he would have thought they would be. He talked about how disgusted he was with himself, his fear for Joe's safety, and his feelings of inadequacy over his ability to protect the people he loved…everything. "It's hard to explain," He said slowly, "if I had told you all of these things earlier it would have been…difficult. But since I talked to Joe, it's easier."

"You guys understand each other perfectly," Nancy smiled, "that makes complete sense."

They settled into silence again before Nancy spoke up, "I checked on Eric, he's going to be fine."

Immediately Frank felt guilty for hardly sparing a passing thought for the man who helped them bring down Greg Atkinson. He quickly swallowed that guilt and cleared his throat, "he's in the hospital, then?"

"Yes, he'll be there for the next couple of days. They had to re-close the wound and they're keeping him there so he can heal properly."

"Good," Frank nodded. The pair lapsed into more comfortable silence, "I have an idea," Frank said suddenly.

"Oh yeah?" Nancy said with a smile.

"What do you say we stay in our pajamas all day tomorrow?" Frank suggested with a smile, "I mean, I'm going to visit Joe in the morning and probably again in the evening, but I promise to put my sweats right back on the minute I get back."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. I'm coming with you when you go visit Joe, so I promise to put my sweats on as soon as I walk in the door too."

"Maybe we should just go to the hospital in our sweats," Frank suggested with a laugh.

"I haven't left the house wearing my pajamas since college," Nancy shuddered at the thought, "I can't believe I would actually go to class wearing my flannel pajamas, no wonder I never got any dates."

Frank laughed and pulled her close, "okay, I think I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright, I'll be here," Nancy leaned into his kiss and smiled as Frank walked down the hallway to the bathroom. She looked around the living room and thought to herself, _'with everything going on, I almost forgot that we're moving in together!'_ She had to suppress a gleeful cry at the very idea of living with Frank.

The buzzer at the door sounded and she frowned, _'who could be coming to visit us now?'_ She walked across the room and pressed the intercom button, "hello?"

"Nancy, it's Fenton, can I come up?" Fenton's warbled voice came out of the speaker.

"Of course, hold on I'll buzz you up," Nancy pressed the key to unlock the main door and then turned to wait for Fenton's arrival.

Nancy answered his knock and greeted Fenton, "Hello."

"Hello Nancy," Fenton replied and stepped inside, "where's Frank?"

"Taking a shower," Nancy replied, "we just finished talking about…things."

"Thank you," Fenton said sincerely, "thank you for being here for my son. As a father you expect to be able to clean up all of their scrapes and tumbles for the rest of their lives. That's not the case, at some point you have to turn that responsibility over to their spouses. Thank you for doing such a great job with my son's scrapes and bruises."

Nancy was a bit taken aback by the usually intense Fenton Hardy's sincere speech; she fumbled for the right words and settled on simply, "you're welcome."

"I have something that I think is going to upset him further," Fenton said regretfully. "I debated over even showing them to him, but I knew that if I didn't and he found out that I hadn't, well…I just knew that I had better give him the choice."

"What is it?" Nancy whispered, dreading the answer.

"Pictures," Fenton replied and pulled an envelope from inside his jacket.

"Pictures?" Nancy was confused until she recalled that Greg had taken pictures of Joe when he was torturing him. Her breath clutched in her throat as she thought of what this would do to Frank. After everything he had already been through, she had thought that he was beginning to heal when he was on his way to the shower. Now, with these pictures she didn't know what to expect. "May I see them?" she whispered.

Fenton nodded and slowly handed them over. He had called and asked specifically for the pictures, he wanted the copies of his sons torment to be in his hands, no one else's. When he had finally gotten the courage to look at them, he had just broken down and sobbed. Laura had found him and he had absolutely refused to let her look at them.

With trembling hands Nancy pulled the pictures out of the envelope and looked down at the first picture in the pile. Her heart ached; there was Joe on his knees blood dripping down the side of his face, his beautiful blonde hair shaved in a haphazard pattern, some of it left long and some of it buzzed; his face ashen. There were wires attached to his head and chest and his arms were tied securely behind his back. He looked so beaten, so broken; a look Nancy had never expected to see from Joe Hardy.

She stifled a sob as she flipped to the next picture, this one a close up of his face. His eyes were devastated and filled with pain. A tear escaped and dripped down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away.

"You don't have to look at the rest of them," Fenton said quietly. Nancy shook her head vehemently, if Frank was going to have to live with these images, she would live with them too. She looked through the rest and by the time she was finished the tears were flowing freely.

"Oh Joe," she whispered and covered her mouth with her hand.

"What are those?" Frank stood in the hallway, his hair wet from his shower.

Nancy found that she couldn't answer and was glad when Fenton answered for her, "pictures."

Frank's eyes darkened as he immediately understood exactly what pictures his father was talking about. "Let me see them," he held out his hand for the pictures and was surprised that it was steady.

Nancy only paused for a moment before walking over and handing Frank the pile of pictures. Frank looked down at the first one and his face simply crumbled his careful composure breaking. He looked through all of the rest before walking toward the back deck without a word.

"Frank?" Nancy asked as she and Fenton followed him to the door, "what are you doing?"

Frank didn't respond only opened the sliding glass door and stepped out onto his deck. He walked over and lifted the lid on his gas grill. He crouched down, turned the gas on and lit both of the burners, turning them on high. He threw the pile of pictures down onto the metal grill and watched as the fire blazed and licked around the edge of the pictures. Nancy and Fenton stood back and watched the blaze quietly, knowing that this was therapeutic for Frank.

Soon the pictures were just a burned blackened mess on the bottom of the grill and Frank slowly and methodically turned off the burners and the gas. He turned to look at his father and Nancy, "I refuse to let those pictures exist," he closed the top of the grill, "I don't want Vanessa or mom or even Joe for that matter to ever have to go through the pain of seeing those."

Nancy knew that if Frank had been thinking clearly he would have thought twice about destroying useful evidence, but she didn't say anything. She knew that those were probably not the only copies of the pictures.

Fenton wholeheartedly agreed that Vanessa, Laura and Joe should never see those pictures, but knew that those pictures _would_ exist at Greg Atkinson's trial. He only hoped that when the time came, the pictures would be handled carefully.

* * *


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Thank you for reading! Keep in mind, Nancy doesn't know about the house and Frank doesn't know that his offer was accepted. (Remember, Joe answered the phone when the realtor called and with everything going on it completely slipped his mind!) :) Thank you so much to whitetigers, bhar, ukfan101, RedHardy (your threats to cut off all my hair make me laugh and yet at the same time make me kind of nervous. :) lol), Cheryl, MissMe113 and Diamond and Stars for the reviews! They make me smile. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 25**

"Are you ready?" Vanessa asked Joe when she came out of the bathroom, "I think I've got everything all set up in there."

"Yeah," Joe replied and groaned a little as he pushed himself up into a sitting position on the side of the bed. Vanessa rushed over and helped him to his feet, wrapping her arm securely around his waist and bringing his arm around her to rest on her shoulders.

"Easy does it," Vanessa murmured and they began to walk across the room together, Joe feeling slightly ashamed at how slow he had to move. An involuntary spasm wracked his body and he felt Vanessa stiffen beside him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, knowing how much the trembles he couldn't control upset Vanessa.

"Don't you apologize," she hissed angrily, "you didn't ask that horrible, rat-faced Greg Atkinson to torture you."

Joe stopped and smiled at Vanessa, kissing her cheek, "I love you. I'm a lucky guy."

"Of course you are," Vanessa said, still grumpy despite how mushy she felt at his gesture. They made it the rest of the way to the bathroom and Vanessa helped Joe into the chair she had set in the middle of the floor, "are you okay?"

Joe nodded but didn't say anything, he was out of breath. He watched as Vanessa carefully wrapped a towel around his shoulders and then stepped over to her makeup bag that was resting on the sink. "Be careful with me, I'm fragile," Joe teased, trying to bring a smile to Vanessa's sad face.

"I know," she murmured and gently grabbed Joe's head in her hands and kissed the top of his hair. She took a deep breath and pulled his electric razor out of her bag. She flipped it on and immediately Joe was transported back to the dark warehouse, the pain and images in his mind beginning to overwhelm him.

Joe was afraid he was going to start panicking any moment now but didn't know how to tell Vanessa to turn the razor off without scaring her. He opened his mouth to speak when her gentle hand cupped his cheek and her other hand very slowly ran the razor through his hair.

All of the panic he had begun to feel slowly started to leave him as he concentrated on Vanessa's gentle and loving touch. He closed his eyes and forced his mind to focus on her cool hand on his cheek and not the feeling of the razor dragging slowly through his hair.

Vanessa bit her lip as she carefully maneuvered the razor, not wanting to bump the bandages on Joe's head or cause him anymore pain. It was hard to watch his beautiful blonde hair falling to the bathroom floor but she knew that it would eventually grow back. Before she knew it, she was done. She turned the razor off and set it on the bathroom sink.

"There," she whispered and laid a kiss on his now closely cropped hair, "all done."

"How do I look?" Joe asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Hardcore," Vanessa said with a smile, "I think we need to get you a Harley and a leather vest."

Joe laughed, "Sounds good to me, I've always wanted a Harley." He pulled Vanessa close and still sitting wrapped his arms around her. He laid his head on her stomach and sighed in contentment.

* * *

Frank smiled over at Nancy as he drove toward the hospital to visit Joe. They had spent a lazy morning lounging around the house in their pajamas and watching old re-runs of _Law and Order_ before finally getting changed to go to the hospital.

Both were dressed very relaxed in jeans and sweaters, taking the whole idea of a lazy Sunday very seriously. If Joe had known, he would have made a joke about how only Frank and Nancy could take relaxing so seriously. They walked into the hospital hand in hand and went up to the third floor to find Joe's room.

"The door is closed," Frank observed, "I wonder why." He knocked softly and when he didn't get a response slowly pushed the door open. Nancy followed slowly behind him and they both looked around the empty room in confusion. "Where…" Frank began but his voice trailed off when he heard a sound coming from the bathroom.

He led the way across the room and froze; Nancy came up next to him and carefully linked her hand with his. Joe sat in the bathroom, his hair all one even length now, his arms wrapped around Vanessa who was standing in front of him, his head resting on her stomach. Both of their eyes were closed as they embraced each other.

Joe opened his eyes and smiled at his brother, "morning," he said.

"Morning," Frank said, his voice thick with emotion. "You look different, better," he joked.

Joe laughed, "Come over here and rub your hand over it," Joe suggested and ran his own hand over it. "It feels cool."

Frank laughed, "I'll pass."

"Nancy? Feel this," Joe motioned for Nancy to come forward and rub her hand over the short hairs, "cool, huh?"

"Very," she agreed.

"Pretty soon you're going to be begging Frank to shave his head," Joe said and smiled.

"Undoubtedly," Nancy agreed with a smile as Frank spluttered and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "fat chance."

"Here, let's get you back to bed," Vanessa said and hooked a hand under Joe's arm to help him stand.

"Don't worry about it, I've got it," Joe mumbled, acutely embarrassed that now both Nancy and Frank were here to witness his handicap. Vanessa immediately understood but kept a firm grip on his arm. Joe wobbled out of the bathroom and to his bed and was pleased to find that once he got there his breath wasn't as labored as it had been.

He sat on the edge of the bed and motioned for Vanessa to join him. Nancy and Frank both took seats in the two chairs in the room, "how are you feeling today little brother?" Frank finally asked.

"Little?" Joe said, "We've been having this argument for years. You're only an inch taller than me."

"Still, an inch is an inch," Frank said simply. The group passed an enjoyable hour visiting, everyone knew that everyone else was working to keep the subject far away from what had happened over the last few days.

The topic turned to Vanessa and Joe's wedding, which reminded Vanessa of something, "oh! I almost forgot…I rescheduled the dress fitting for you and Callie from tomorrow until Thursday. I figured we could all use some…time," she said to Nancy.

"You did?" Joe asked in confusion, "you didn't have to."

"No, I wanted to. I want to be here for you." Vanessa said with a smile. "Besides, it's only a four day difference, eventually the dresses will be fitted one way or the other."

"I'd like it if you would go," Joe responded quietly.

"But I'd like to be here with you," Vanessa replied stubbornly. Nancy shot a quick smile in Frank's direction and he grabbed her hand.

They both settled into their chairs to watch the show, "I'm betting on Vanessa," Frank said out of the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know," Nancy murmured back, "Joe's pretty wily."

They both looked on as Vanessa and Joe continued their little argument, "Vanessa, you've been looking forward to seeing Callie and going to this appointment for a long time. I want you to go."

"But you're in the hospital and I want to be here with you," Vanessa said stubbornly.

"If I have my way, I won't be in here much longer," Joe declared.

Instantly Vanessa's spine stiffened, "Joe Hardy, you will stay in this hospital as long as the doctor's say you should!"

"Sure," Joe muttered under his breath, completely unconvincing.

Vanessa glared at him for a moment before continuing, "Besides, I didn't just reschedule the appointment for your benefit, I rescheduled for Nancy's too. She's been through a lot the last few days."

Simultaneously the couple rounded on Nancy and Joe spoke first, "are you feeling so overly fragile that you can't go to a dress fitting appointment tomorrow and spend the day being girly?" he demanded.

Nancy glanced from Joe's face over to Vanessa's pleading one and then looked at Frank who was smiling slyly at her, "Um…" her voice trailed off, "I guess…not?" she finally answered.

Joe turned to face Vanessa triumphantly, "ha! I win. You're going to the dress fitting tomorrow."

"Fine," Vanessa crossed her arms, "you're staying in the hospital."

Joe crossed his arms too, "sure I am…for as long as I can stand it."

"No way, if I'm going to this dress fitting then you're going to stay in the hospital until the doctor gives his seal of approval." Vanessa narrowed her eyes, "if you don't agree, we don't have a deal."

"Fine," Joe finally said, "agreed." Vanessa smiled triumphantly and held out her hand to shake on it.

"Who won?" Frank wondered quietly to Nancy but not quietly enough as to escape Joe and Vanessa's notice. They both turned to stare at the couple in front of them.

"I'm not sure," Nancy said, "Joe got what he wanted but Vanessa is the one with the smile on her face. I think it's a draw."

Both Joe and Vanessa exchanged a look and then joined in with Frank and Nancy's laughter.

Soon Frank and Nancy stood up to say goodbye and with promises to come back to visit later that night, they left the room.

"You should go home too," Joe said to Vanessa as he leaned back against his pillows. The thought of her leaving him right now, alone with his thoughts scared him immensely. "It can't be very fun for you here."

"Don't be silly," Vanessa said and curled up next to Joe on the bed, careful not to jostle him in a way that would be painful. "I want to be where you are."

Joe sighed and kissed the top of Vanessa's head then stared up at the ceiling. Hospitals made him stir crazy, he was wondering how in the world he was going to keep his promise to Vanessa and stay here until the doctor's said he could go home. With his luck that wouldn't be for _days_.

He frowned slightly when he felt a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Like he was forgetting something important about tomorrow, _'Monday, Monday…what is it about Monday?'_ he repeated over and over again in his head. _'Is there something I'm forgetting?'_

An involuntary shudder moved through his body and he immediately tensed, trying to get it to stop. Vanessa looked up at him, concern in her eyes, "is it very painful when that happens?"

"Not really," Joe assured her, "I'm just sore now."

Vanessa nodded and laid her head back down, "I'm worried about tomorrow."

"What? Why?" Joe asked.

"I don't know how it's going to go with Callie, Frank's high school sweetheart and Nancy, Frank's current girlfriend in the same place. I hope it's not too awkward," Vanessa sighed, "My loyalty does and always will lie with Callie. She's my best friend…but, Nancy is becoming a good friend too. I don't know what I would do if I had to choose one over the other."

Joe thought for a moment before speaking, "I'm sure it will all work out. They're both grown women who care a lot about you; they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Besides, Callie is _very_ happily engaged, I'm sure there's no animosity there."

"I'm sure you're right, I'm just worried," Vanessa closed her eyes and soon both she and Joe were fast asleep.

* * *

True to their word, as soon as they got back to the apartment Frank and Nancy changed back into their sweats and resumed their places on the couch. They flipped through the channels and seeing that the _Law and_ _Order_ marathon was still on settled in to watch the next episode.

It took a total of 8 minutes for them to start getting completely bored out of their minds and only an additional 6 before they finally couldn't hold it in any longer and they both turned to the other quickly.

Nancy spoke first, "I'm bored."

"I know me too," Frank agreed and they both sighed in relief. "What should we do?"

"We said we were going to be lazy all day," Nancy shrugged, "what's lazy and active at the same time?"

Frank thought about it, "Would taking a walk be considered lazy, as long as we were really slow about it?"

Nancy nodded quickly, "I think so. As long as we don't break a sweat and we stop to admire the view every once and awhile, I think that could be considered very lazy."

"Great," Frank pushed up off the couch and held out a hand to help Nancy to her feet. He frowned, "would it be considered un-lazy if we were to change out of our pajama pants for this lazy walk?"

Nancy considered this for a moment and then shook her head, "no, I don't think so. I think it would be considered responsible and still lazy, as long as we didn't really _want_ to change out of our pajama pants."

"Right," Frank nodded his head seriously, and adopted a fake irritated look, "ugh, the thought of changing makes me mad."

"Me too," Nancy laughed and then shook her head, "We are the weirdest people ever."

"The weirdest _laziest_ people ever," Frank corrected her.

"Yeah, _fake_ lazy," Nancy laughed and headed back to change into her jeans.

It turned out that they did end up breaking a small sweat, but that was only because they had decided to walk to a nearby park. They figured the thirty minute walk it took to get there would still be considered lazy if they sat on a bench once they reached their destination.

They sat next to each other and looked out over the small lake that was located in the center of the park. "I know you wanted me to tell you what happened in the parking garage," Frank said all of a sudden.

"Yes," Nancy replied.

"I'm sorry but, I don't think I can," Frank turned to look at her, "you've already seen the pictures…of my brother," the words seemed to be painful for him to say, "and you've already _heard_ everything that happened. There really isn't much else I can tell you."

"I understand," Nancy began slowly and lifted her face so that the sun could wash over it before turning to look at Frank straight in the eye, "but if you need to talk about it and you're not telling me just to protect me, then I'm going to do something very un-lazy, like kicking your butt."

Frank chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, "No," he said softly, "you know most of it, I don't want to talk about the details."

"That's fair," Nancy nodded her head slowly, "completely reasonable. I'm going to quit the FBI," she said simply.

"You're what?" Frank asked incredulously.

"I'm going to quit my job," Nancy replied.

"Okay," Frank said trying to get a handle on the situation, "when did you decide this?"

"This morning, after the first episode of _Law and Order_ and before we went to visit Joe," Nancy stretched her arms above her head and then relaxed.

"Really?" Frank asked, "Well, should I be happy for you?"

"Yes," Nancy said with a smile, "I feel really good about this decision."

"I'm just curious, what are you going to do instead?" Frank asked carefully.

Nancy laughed, "I already told you. I'm going to try my hand at knitting. I've only ever been able to knit really, really long scarves. I'd like to graduate to hats and sweaters. Maybe we should get a dog so I can knit it a doggie sweater."

Frank knew that Nancy was only teasing him and he threw his head back and laughed, "Nancy Drew, if you're bored after sitting still for fifteen minutes there is no way you're going to have the patience to knit a _doggie_ sweater."

"Hey, it could happen," Nancy said with a smile. "Actually, I think I'm going to apply at the Bayport PD."

"I think that's an excellent idea," Frank replied and returned her smile. Everything was falling into place perfectly, now all he needed to do was wait for a call back from the realtor about the house he had put an offer in on and everything would be great. With everything that had been happening the last few days he had almost forgotten about the house on Cherrywood Drive, almost. He resolved to call the realtor sometime tomorrow or Tuesday, just to show that he was really serious about getting that house.

A bird flew low across the water skimming its talons along the surface, creating ripples in the water behind it. "So," Frank said after awhile as he watched the bird take off and soar above the trees, "if we keep it just between us…"

"What are you thinking?" Nancy looked suspicious.

"I think that…maybe if we didn't talk about it…and we didn't tell anyone…if we had a race back to the apartment…" Frank's voice trailed off and his eyes shone mischievously.

"I don't think it would count against our lazy day, as long as we didn't mention it to anyone," Nancy said slowly.

"It's a race then," Frank declared and stood up quickly.

Before Frank could even blink Nancy was off like a shot. She called over her shoulder, "come on Frank, you know I'm faster than you!" she taunted and then resumed running.

Frank grinned and took off after her.

* * *

That evening the guilt over their afternoon run caused Frank and Nancy to wear their pajamas to the hospital to visit Joe. When Joe saw them he let out a quick laugh and was no good for conversation for a good ten minutes.

When he was finally able to talk he managed to come up with a decent quip as usual, "what? I'm not good enough to wear the pajama pants with the little duckies on them? I'm only worth a pair of plain old red flannel pj's?" he laughed and for the rest of the visit inserted as many sly comments about Nancy and Frank's attire as he could.

* * *


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in two days, but I'm thinking of ways to make it up to you guys as we speak. :) Thank you so much to everyone who continues to read and thank you so much to those of you who have taken the time to leave a review, I love to hear your thoughts! We're winding down to the end here, probably only a few more chapters to go! Okay, here it is…enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 26**

Nancy brushed her hair nervously in the mirror and for the third time decided to put it up in a relaxed pony tail. Sighing in disgust she yanked the hair band out and smoothed her hair back down.

She kept telling herself that it was ridiculous to feel nervous about a dress fitting, but in truth she was. Dangerous felons and crazy mad men she could handle, ex-girlfriends of the man you planned to marry someday she could not.

She groaned, she couldn't even hate Callie Shaw because the girl was so nice. The few times she had met Callie, she had been warm and funny and sweet. Of course, that had been _before_ she had started dating Frank.

Then there was Vanessa, and Nancy's hands stilled as she looked at herself in the mirror. She knew that Vanessa and Callie were best friends and no matter how much she liked Vanessa and how much she wanted to be good friends with her, she would never stand in the way of that friendship.

Nancy didn't do well with awkward situations and she was afraid that she was willingly walking smack dab into the middle of one. _'Stupid,'_ she thought to herself, _'you're stupid to be doing this. Call them and tell them that you're still worked up over the last few days. Tell Vanessa you're sick…or that you've been called into work because a foreign diplomat is coming to visit and you've been assigned to guard duty. Tell her it's that time of the month and so you're all bloated and won't get an accurate dress fitting…'_ Nancy stared at herself in the mirror and then let out a small chuckle, _'you're being an idiot, Drew,'_ she chided herself.

Frank walked into the small bathroom just then and leaned against the doorjamb. He stared at her for a moment and then laughed, "You're nervous," he stated.

"What?" Nancy said trying to look confused, "no I'm not."

Frank stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, "yes you are and I think it's adorable."

Nancy made a face, "adorable? Yuck."

Frank smiled, "you don't have to be nervous. Callie and I are on good terms. She's getting married in a month and I think she's truly happier than I've ever seen her. She doesn't harbor any hard feelings."

"Toward _you_ maybe," Nancy replied, "but me on the other hand…"

"Callie isn't like that Nancy; you don't have to worry about anything," Frank looked at their reflections in the mirror and smiled.

Nancy continued to look doubtful, "if you say so."

Frank's arms tightened around her as the buzzer in the front hallway sounded, "you're heart rate just sped up," he said in disbelief.

Nancy pulled herself out of his arms and flushed in embarrassment, "no it didn't."

Frank laughed, "Yes it did. I could feel your hear pounding under my arms. I could practically _hear_ it."

Nancy didn't answer but made a rude face and walked out of the bathroom to answer the buzzer. Frank followed behind and shook his head laughing.

Vanessa was soon knocking on the front door and Nancy hurried to answer it, "hey!" Vanessa said enthusiastically. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Nancy replied with a smile, "just let me grab my purse."

"Great," Vanessa replied and turned to Frank, "I just came from the hospital."

"How's Joe," Frank asked.

"Grumpy," Vanessa replied and shrugged, "he really wants to leave."

"Sounds like Joe," Frank replied with a smile, "I'm going to head over there in minute, help break up the monotony a little bit."

"Good, he has an issue of _Car & Driver_ he's currently abusing. He could use a distraction," Vanessa smiled at Nancy when she came out of the bedroom, "good to go?" she asked.

"Yep," Nancy leaned up and gave Frank a quick good-bye kiss, "bye," she murmured.

"Bye," he returned with a smile, "have fun. I love you."

"Love you too," Nancy replied and headed for the door.

Vanessa couldn't help but smile at the touching exchange and think of Joe. She was so happy that Frank had finally found someone. For so many years after his breakup with Callie he had insisted that he was fine being alone, that he preferred being single. When Nancy had shown up Vanessa had seen a light enter Frank's eyes that she had never seen before. It made her so happy that the brother that meant so much to Joe was finally happy.

"Let's go," Nancy said opening the door.

"I can't believe Frank asked you to move in!" Vanessa gushed as they made their way down the hallway, their voices carrying back to Frank who was standing in the open doorway watching them leave.

"I know, it was great," Nancy replied happily.

"That apartment definitely has potential," Frank heard Vanessa say as they neared the elevator; "I'm assuming you guys are staying here in Bayport."

"Of course," Nancy replied, "I would never break up the dynamic Hardy team."

Vanessa laughed, "I remember when Joe asked me to move in. We started all over from scratch in a new apartment because we were both too stubborn to compromise on anything," she laughed again as the elevator doors opened, "I doubt you and Frank will have that problem."

Nancy's response was drowned out as the doors slid shut on the two girls. Frank walked back into his apartment and closed the door, "we definitely won't have that problem if I get the house," he said out loud.

The phone rang then and Frank walked across the room to answer it.

* * *

Joe flipped through _Car & Driver_ a little more aggressively than he should have early Monday morning. He _hated_ being in the hospital and had made his sentiments well known to anyone who happened to make the unwise choice of walking into his room.

His next victim happened to be his nurse who walked in, annoyingly cheerful for the early morning hour, "good morning Mr. Hardy. Did you sleep alright?"

"Fine," Joe grumbled and tossed his magazine aside, "when do I get to go home? I've been here forever."

"Just two nights," the nurse answered with a smile and checked his chart. "Would you like some more pain medication?"

"No," Joe replied and folded his arms across his chest. He was barely able to suppress a shudder that wracked his body.

The nurse frowned, "you're still having spasms."

"Not that often," Joe replied pouting.

"What about your head? Let's take a look at those cuts," the nurse very bravely put her hands next to Joe's snarling face and began to inspect the bandages. "Everything looks good here," the nurse said, "but we'll change them again this afternoon, just to be safe."

"When do I get to go home?" Joe repeated.

"I'll have to ask your doctor," the nurse replied and set his chart back at the foot of his bed. "I'm surprised by you, Mr. Hardy. You're a legend around here for sneaking out before you're officially allowed to leave. We all thought you'd be long gone by yesterday afternoon at the latest."

Joe groaned, "I promised someone that I wouldn't leave until the doctor gave me the okay."

"I see," the nurse smiled, "well, the doctor is just making his rounds now, so you'll be able to pester him momentarily."

With that the nurse turned to the door and opened it just as Vanessa was about to enter, "good morning babe!" she called out and came right over to give him a kiss.

"Morning," Joe grumbled.

"Come on, don't be mad," Vanessa sat on the edge of his bed, "I was just stopping by on my way to pick up Nancy to go to the dress fitting. You should be happy."

"Ha," Joe said, "I don't know why it was so important to me that you go to that dress fitting. Like you said, the stupid things are going to get finished one way or the other."

"You're just mad because you're stuck here," Vanessa replied lightly and ran her hand over Joe's hair.

"Of course I'm mad! I hate the hospital."

"Yes, well…we did make a deal," Vanessa laughed at Joe's sour expression. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be released from the hospital soon and relegated to couch duty in no time."

Joe was silent for a moment, "this might not be so bad if I didn't have this horrible nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something important about today."

"Like what?" Vanessa frowned.

"I have no idea," Joe threw his hands up in frustration, "that's just the thing. I don't know if it's a meeting or a football game on TV I want to watch or what, I just _know_ something is supposed to be happening this morning."

"Well, whatever it is…I'm sure it will come to you," Vanessa smiled and looked down at the battered copy of _Car & Driver, _"is that the new issue I just bought you yesterday?" she said her voice amazed.

Joe looked down at the wrinkled magazine, one corner of it had been ripped off when he had flipped the cover open a bit too aggressively, "uh, yeah," he said sheepishly.

"The poor thing," Vanessa replied, "it probably never even knew what hit it." She leaned down and placed a kiss on Joe's forehead, "try to be more careful with it Joe, remember it never did anything to you." She smiled down at him and then glanced at her watch, "okay, I'm going to be late picking Nancy up. I'll come back as soon as we're finished and bore you with all of the girly details."

"Wahoo," Joe said without much enthusiasm, "and I'll be stuck here, doing nothing." Joe rolled his eyes, _'Unless of course, I can convince the doctor to spring me.'_ He didn't voice this out loud however, he didn't want to give Vanessa any reason to try and stop him.

"Okay, I love you," Vanessa said and leaned down to give Joe a good bye kiss on his unhappy lips.

"I love you too," Joe replied and watched as Vanessa bounded out of the room. "Sure, she gets to leave this place," he muttered under his breath.

He spent a frustrating hour waiting for the doctor to make it to his room and when the man finally did turn up Joe was at his boiling point, "where have you been?" he demanded.

"I've been checking on other patients, other patients who depend on me for their survival," the doctor replied with a smile. He was very familiar with the Hardy men having stitched up or nursed back to health every one of them multiple times over the years. He knew that young Joe was just itching to get himself out of the hospital.

"Sorry," Joe mumbled, thoroughly chastised. He took a deep breath and tried to sound calm, "when can I get out of here?"

"Well, let's take a look at your chart," the doctor pulled the chart out and began "hmming" and "ahahing" for the next several moments.

"Are those good or bad sounds?" Joe asked suspiciously.

"Neither," the doctor replied, his eyes crinkling with a smile, "they're my thinking sounds."

"Well, are you _thinking_ that it's about time you let me out of here?" Joe asked hopefully.

"See, for anyone else I would say I _might_ be able to let you out later today if I was sure you were going home to rest, but you're the famous Joe Hardy. I know you, you wouldn't do as I ordered." The doctor smiled, "so I think I'm going to need to keep you here for a few more days…"

"What!" Joe cried, "No. No way, I need to get out of here now!"

"Why?" the doctor asked clearly amused, "do you have some sort of urgent appointment?"

"No…at least, I don't think so," Joe replied in frustration, trying his hardest to remember what it was about Monday morning he was forgetting. His eyes lit up as it all hit him at once as he remembered the call from the realtor a few days ago, "yes!" he said loudly, "I _do_ have an important appointment this morning…well, my brother does anyway. You _have_ to let me leave!"

"If it's your brother's appointment, why should I sign you out?" the doctor asked.

"Because he doesn't know about it!" Joe was growing agitated as he looked at the clock and saw that the morning was starting to get away from him. He knew the process of checking out; getting someone to pick him up, bring him a change of clothes and get to Frank would take up a lot of time.

"Then why don't you call him and tell him about it?" the doctor suggested kindly.

Joe groaned in frustration, "Look Doc, what do I have to do to get you to let me out of here? Sign something in blood saying I'm going to stay put for the next few days? I just want to go _home_ and recuperate."

The doctor thought it through for a moment before reaching his decision, "Okay, but there are a few conditions. First, you fill this prescription," he took out a pad and hastily scribbled something before handing it to Joe, "and you _take them_." Joe nodded his agreement, "Second, you make a follow up appointment with your doctor for one week from today and you _go to it_. Third, you are to go home and rest and I mean _really_ rest. Watch all three of the Lord of the Rings movies Extended Editions with subtitles in Japanese if you have to, just stay put." Joe nodded again, "and fourth, you call your brother Frank to come and pick you up because I know that if I tell him that you are _ordered_ to rest and about the first three conditions, he'll make sure it happens. I'll tell him you have to stay put if it means tying you to the couch." The doctor gave Joe his most severe authoritative look, "Can you agree to those four things?"

Joe nodded his head quickly, "yes, yes, just get me out of here!"

The doctor chuckled, "okay, I'll go start your paperwork."

As soon as the doctor left Joe reached across to pick up the phone on the table beside his bed, "Frank," he said impatiently into the phone, "I'm being released from the hospital. Come and get me. Bring clothes."

"You're what? They're releasing you?" Frank's voice sounded doubtful, "listen Joe, I know how much you hate being there but I'm not going to be a part of your escape attempt."

"I'm not escaping, the doctor said I could go on four conditions," Joe replied quickly.

"Which are?" Frank asked.

"I'll tell you when you get here, but get here fast. We have a stop to make on our way home," Joe ordered.

"A stop? Joe, I'm sure running errands is not on the list of the doctor's conditions," Frank's voice was stern.

"Just get here!" Joe growled and hung up the phone. Resigning himself to the fact that he would have to wait he picked up his discarded copy of _Car & Driver_ and resumed flipping through it, slightly less aggressively than he had earlier but you could definitely still tell he was aggravated.

As soon as Frank walked in the door, looking slightly wary Joe started to swing his legs over the bed. He reached for the bag in Frank's hands, "close your eyes so I can change," he said in way of hello.

"You can't be serious," Frank said and rolled his eyes, "you're feeling modest all of a sudden?"

"Just close your eyes," Joe ordered and Frank sighed and did as he was told. In truth Joe didn't really have a modest bone in his body, but he had seen his torso and knew how awful it looked covered in ugly bruises, he didn't want Frank to see that.

As quickly as his sore and stiff body would allow Joe shoved his feet into the jeans Frank had brought him and then awkwardly pulled the shirt over his head, gritting his teeth and the screaming protest of his body at the movement.

"The pants are a little short," Joe said and Frank opened his eyes.

"Yeah well, I had to stop by mom and dads for clothes because it was on the way. The only clothes you have there are from high school," Frank shrugged, "you seemed to be in some all fired hurry to get out of here so I figured old clothes were better than taking longer."

"You figured right," Joe said and took a seat on the edge of his bed, "what's taking the doctor so long?"

Frank studied his brother, "You're even more restless than usual Joe, what's going on?" he asked suspiciously.

"Listen Frank," Joe began to explain his forgetfulness when the doctor came breezing in, cutting him off.

"Well, you owe me Hardy, I rushed all of this because I like you," the doctor smiled and turned to Frank, "now I've told your brother that his release is conditional. He has to take the medication I've prescribed him, he has to make an appointment with the doctor for a week from today and he is to _rest_. I'm telling you all of this because I trust you'll make sure your brother does it," the doctor looked severe again and Frank nodded.

"Of course," he said.

"Great, let's go," Joe said standing up.

"Not so fast," the doctor held up a hand, "stop at the nurses' station on your way out and sign your paperwork."

"Got it," Joe said, "thanks Doc."

Joe walked as quickly as he could out the door as if he was afraid the doctor would change his mind. Frank exchanged a look with the doctor and they both smiled and followed Joe out of the room.

Frank caught up with his brother at the nurses' desk and then followed him to the elevator. Joe looked over at his brother, "what time is it?"

"When are you going to start wearing a watch?" Frank mumbled and glanced down at his own, "ten thirty."

Joe swore, "We have an errand to run."

"I don't think so Joe, you're supposed to be resting," Frank replied and followed Joe out of the elevator.

"I will," Joe said in exasperation, "I will, I promise that I'll be super lazy just as soon as we finish this errand."

"Why don't I drop you off at your apartment and then I'll go run this all important errand for you?" Frank suggested as he pulled out his car keys.

"That's pointless because this is _your_ errand," Joe replied and waited for Frank to unlock his car doors.

"Huh?" was Frank's brilliant response.

"This is your errand," Joe replied and buckled himself in, "I forgot to tell you, with everything that's been going on the last few days. The realtor called."

Frank was silent for a moment, both hands on the steering wheel, staring at his brother, "and?"

"And," Joe took a deep breath, "your offer was accepted and I told them you'd be in to sign the paperwork today, this morning. I just remembered."

Frank was stunned, "I got the house?" he said in disbelief. "I got the house?" he said again a little louder this time.

"Yeah bro, you did," Joe said grinning.

Frank grinned back, "I got the house!"

"Not yet you don't," Joe reminded him, "start driving brother."

With a huge smile on his face Frank threw the car into reverse and headed toward Bayport Realty.

* * *


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Here it is, my way to make it up to you for taking so long to post! Two chapters in a day, in the words of Joe Hardy, "Wahoo!". There's a reference in here to something that happened in Second Chances, but if you haven't read that story don't worry about it…you don't have to have read it to understand. :)

Also, I hope that not many people mind that the rest of this story is going to be kind of fluffy...and by fluffy I mean that the boys are going to continue to heal but there is going to be an increase in the humor department. :) Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 27**

Nancy wiped her nervous hands on her jeans as she climbed out of Vanessa's car in front of the dress shop. The two girls walked toward the front door and were immediately greeted by a sales clerk, "I'm Vanessa Bender, here for the dress fitting," she informed the smiling woman.

"Oh yes, your mother and Maid of Honor are already here," the woman informed them and led the pair to the back of the shop.

"Vanessa!" Callie cried and ran over to give her friend a hug.

"Hey Cal," Vanessa replied with just as much enthusiasm, "How are you?"

"I'm great," Callie replied, "I was doing all of these things a few months ago," she said with a smile. Callie turned then and saw Nancy standing in the background, looking as if she wanted to hide in the racks of dresses behind her, "hello Nancy," Callie said politely. Nancy was cheered by the fact that Callie's voice didn't sound cold and unwelcome, it sounded…neutral and a bit wary. Could it be possible that Callie was just as nervous about this as she was?

"Hi Callie, it's good to see you," Nancy replied with a small smile.

Andrea Bender glanced at the three girls and made a quick decision as she saw her daughter's nervous face dart back and forth between her two friends, "Vanessa honey come with me I'd like to show you something." Before Vanessa could protest Andrea grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the front of the shop.

Callie and Nancy both watched the pair leave and then turned to look back at each other, "well, that was subtle," Nancy finally said.

"Yeah," Callie agreed and she and Nancy both ran a hand through their hair nervously. They noticed what they were doing and they both laughed, "It looks like we both have the same nervous habit."

"It does," Nancy agreed nodding. She took a deep breath and decided to just take the leap, "look Callie, I don't know what you think of me or how you feel about me, but I do know that Frank has nothing but love and respect for you and the same goes for Vanessa. I would love it if we could get along, at least for their sakes."

Callie was silent for a moment as she considered Nancy's words, "I agree," she said slowly, "but who says that we have to dislike each other?"

"I don't know, every situation like this in the history of mankind would have us hating each other," Nancy replied.

"Let's defy history shall we?" Callie said with a smile, "I've always liked you; you've got so much spunk and sass, something I wish I had."

Nancy smiled back, "and you've always been so warm and inviting, something I wish I had."

"So, we're not going to kill each other for no reason?" Callie asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Nancy replied.

"Good, because I don't have near the same amount of training that you do. You'd take me apart," Callie laughed and her eyes fell on Nancy's wrists. Nancy followed her gaze and saw her raw and just beginning to scab over wrists, a result of her captivity, "being with him is dangerous," she said quietly. She had seen that sort of injury before, on herself.

"Being with me is just as dangerous," Nancy replied softly.

"The two of you are well suited for each other," Callie smiled again and then turned to look at the racks of dresses, "Vanessa, Andrea? You can come out now!"

The two women poked their heads around a rack of bright pink dresses and smiled sheepishly, "is everything okay?" Vanessa asked tentatively.

"I think so," Nancy replied, "Callie?"

"Absolutely," Callie agreed, "Nancy and I have agreed not to kill each other."

"Good!" Vanessa clapped her hands together, "oh, I'm so glad." She pulled Nancy and Callie into a huge hug. She pulled away from both of her friends, "show us that rock again Callie."

"You've seen it a hundred times," Callie said with a laugh but lifted her left hand anyway, wiggling her fingers so that the diamond on her finger sparkled in the light.

"Oh," Vanessa breathed, "it's almost as beautiful as mine!"

Callie laughed and hit Vanessa playfully on the shoulder, "just because yours is a family heirloom."

"What can I say," Vanessa sighed dramatically, "Joe is such a romantic."

The girls and Andrea went about the business of fitting the bridesmaid dresses that Vanessa had picked out for them, "the two of you look beautiful," Vanessa said happily as Nancy and Callie stood dutifully while hems were pinned, "You're so beautiful, I've almost changed my mind about those dresses, I don't want the two of you to show me up at my own wedding."

Nancy laughed, "That's very doubtful."

"Extremely," Callie agreed, "I saw the picture of your dress, it's stunning."

"Speaking of stunning," Andrea chimed in, "Vanessa, tell me again about the story of Frank and Nancy wearing their pajamas to visit Joe last night."

Nancy groaned and buried her head in her hands, "please don't."

Vanessa laughed, "Apparently Frank and Nancy were trying to be _lazy_ all day yesterday. They failed at it in a big way. They couldn't sit still."

"We tried," Nancy said in defense of her and Frank, "we really did."

"Is it true you guys had a race back to the apartment from the park?" Vanessa asked her eyes narrowed, "that doesn't sound very lazy to me."

"How did you find out about that?" Nancy asked her eyebrows raised.

"I have my ways," Vanessa said mysteriously.

"Frank," Nancy said dramatically, "I love their bond, but sometimes…he takes it a little too far."

Vanessa laughed along with Callie and Andrea, "it sounds like you and Frank are perfect for each other," Callie smiled, "you guys are like one of those irritating couples that you know gets along perfectly even when they're arguing and they're just _made_ for each other."

"Vanessa and Joe are like that too!" Nancy said pointing a finger at the smiling bride to be, "it's not just me and Frank."

Vanessa shrugged, "what can I say, Joe and I are meant to be together," she shifted her gaze to Callie, "and you're not without your share of blame here. You and your fiancé are just as sickeningly perfect together as we are with our significant others."

"Guilty," Callie said and didn't look like she felt the least bit guilty at all.

* * *

"Wow Frank, I'm impressed, you're breaking the speed limit," Joe said as he glanced down at the speedometer. "By a whopping four miles an hour, you must be in some kind of hurry."

Frank snorted, "be quiet, Joe."

Joe laughed and ignored his brother, "it feels good to be free," he rolled his window down and took a deep breath of the fresh air, like a convict just released from solitary confinement after months without seeing the sun.

Frank shook his head at his brother, "I hope you know that as soon as I'm done here I'm taking you home."

"No way," Joe replied, "we're going to see the house, _then _you can take me home." Joe pulled out his cell phone, "I should call Vanessa so she doesn't go to the hospital to look for me." He put his phone to his ear and listened to Vanessa's answering machine, "hey babe, it's me. Just calling to let you know I've been released from the hospital. Call me when you get this message and I'll meet you at home. Love you." He hung up just as Frank pulled into Bayport Realty's parking lot.

"Alright, we'll take care of this," Frank's excited eyes betrayed his attempt at being stern, "but when we're done you're going home and resting. No arguments."

"No arguments," Joe agreed.

When Frank and Joe walked out of the building a while later Frank was clutching the keys to his and Nancy's new home in his hand, "I can't believe it," he murmured and stared down at them. "I just can't believe it." The happiness that was surging through him was like a huge tidal wave of joy that rocketed around inside him, refusing to be contained. He couldn't have contained his happiness if he had wanted to. The huge smile on his face refused to leave and he found himself grinning constantly.

Joe clapped his hand on his brother's shoulder, "believe it bro," he suggested, "she's going to be thrilled."

"I hope so," Frank laughed, "keep in mind I haven't consulted her on this at all."

"She's gonna love it, trust me," Joe replied as they climbed into the car. They drove through the streets of Bayport and Frank pulled into his new driveway. "Wow, great place." Joe said as he looked at the two story house, "it's a great place to start a life, Frank."

"I know," Frank grinned and got out of the car.

"What's the significance behind this place anyway?" Joe asked.

"Cherrywood Drive," Frank replied.

"And?" Joe prompted, waiting for his brother to explain.

Frank turned away from the house and pointed to the street, "See that spot right there?"

"Yeah," Joe said slowly looking at the empty street, "what about it?" Maybe his brother was the one who needed to be resting and taking medication.

"That spot right there," Frank began and his voice trailed off.

"Frank? Hello? Still here," Joe said waving his hand in front of Frank's face.

Frank shook himself out of his memories and looked over at Joe, smiling, "Eight months ago, the night after Nancy and I were stuck in that burning warehouse," Joe grimaced at the memory and the helplessness he had felt that night, "we talked on the phone. You remember she was staying at mom and dads, right?"

"Yeah," Joe replied.

"Well, we talked on the phone and we hung up to go to bed. I remember sitting in my apartment thinking, 'this is silly'. I wanted so badly to be with her, to hold her in my arms, feel her safe and with me. So, I pulled myself coughing out of bed and rushed downstairs to drive over to our parent's house, to surprise her." Frank paused, "I was halfway there, feeling pretty smug about how much I was going to rock her world when I passed a car on the street. It was late and so I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that it was Nancy," Frank laughed, "she had the same idea I did. I stopped my car right there in the middle of the road and so did she." Frank looked at his brother and smiled before turning back and pointing to the middle of the street, "that night was the start of our relationship and we kissed right there in the middle of Cherrywood Drive."

Joe was silent for a moment as he let the story digest, "that's…incredible," Joe searched for the proper word to describe how amazing he thought that story was. Romantic sounded way too hokey and so he settled on incredible. "If you had any doubts as to whether Nancy was going to go for this or not, when she finds out you bought a house right in front of a place that was so monumental for your relationship, all will be forgiven."

"I hope so brother," Frank said with a smile, "I'm counting on it." He swept a worried look over Joe, "are you feeling alright? Should we go back to your place?"

"Are you kidding me? Let's go inside!" Joe said enthusiastically and was thankful Frank was too far away to see the spasm go through his body.

"Are you sure?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I promise I'll tell you when I'm just too fragile to go on," Joe rolled his eyes dramatically. The two brothers walked up to the front door together and Frank took a deep breath before turning the key.

Frank pushed open the front door and both the brother's stood on the threshold looking in. Bare wood floors covered the entryway and stretched out in front of them down a hallway and to the left into a large living room. A flight of stairs stood in front of them that led to the second floor. "Nice digs Frank," Joe whistled in appreciation. They began a slow tour of the house and finally ended on the back porch overlooking the large backyard. "This is the perfect place for a barbecue," Joe said and walked the length of the large porch.

"Yeah," Frank agreed and they walked around the side of the house toward the garage. A basketball hoop was mounted on the side and Frank turned to his brother, "too bad we don't have a basketball and you're maimed and injured."

"I'd still beat you," Joe replied carelessly, "I always do." Frank laughed and walked back up on the porch, "so, how are you going to surprise her?"

For the first time the joy and elation written all over Frank's face seemed to melt into a mask of worry, "I have no idea."

"Hm," Joe replied as a plan started to form in his mind, "I have an idea."

"Yeah?" Frank turned to his brother.

"Yeah, let's throw a barbecue and surprise her with all of her friends and family. Vanessa and I will plan it," Joe smiled.

"You're supposed to be resting," Frank replied.

"Fine, we'll plan it while I sit on my butt," Joe looked around the backyard, "we'll get the guys to help us, it'll be great. Trust me; Vanessa will be hurt if you don't let her have a hand in this."

"Okay," Frank said nodding, "although I don't think it's the greatest idea to surprise her with a house _and_ a huge barbecue full of people at the same time."

"If there are a bunch of witnesses she probably won't kill you if she doesn't like it," Joe suggested helpfully.

Frank laughed nervously, "You're right about that. She'll wait to kill me until we're alone." Frank nodded, "let's do it. I can tell her we've been invited to our parents for a barbecue; this place is on the way to their house. I'll stop and drop the bomb then."

"Perfect," Joe returned Frank's smile.

"When should we do it?" Frank asked. Now that the decision had been made, the paperwork had been signed he wanted nothing more than to get started on his life with Nancy in this house.

"Wednesday?" Joe suggested.

"You think you can pull it all together by then?" Frank asked.

"No, I think _Vanessa_ can. Have you ever seen her in full on party planning mode? It's terrifying," Joe shrugged, "she'll have it all planned hours after I tell her about it."

"Okay," Frank said and led the way back into the house. He locked the door behind him, "I'll have to sneak out of the apartment tomorrow to go shopping to get the things we'll need for the barbecue." Frank being Frank was already running figures in his head, allotting different amounts of money for different things, making a budget plan.

"Not necessary," Joe said as they walked through the main part of the house and out onto the front porch. Frank locked the door, "consider it a housewarming gift."

"Really?" Frank looked at his brother.

"Yeah," Joe grinned. "We'll be barbecuing hotdogs with no buns or condiments, but yeah."

"Not if Vanessa is planning the party," Frank said with an answering smile.

Joe's face fell slightly, "that's true."

Frank laughed, "Let me know what I need to buy."

"Nothing," Joe said with a shake of his head, "I can control my woman."

Frank laughed loudly and unlocked the car doors. He was still laughing loudly as they pulled out of the driveway and headed toward Joe's apartment. "He thinks he can control Vanessa," he said after he had calmed down enough to speak. He looked at Joe and the combination had him laughing loudly all over again.

* * *

"Go! Go! Go!" Joe yelled at the TV from his place on the couch, "GO!" he groaned in frustration as the football players on screen ignored him and fumbled the ball.

"Turnover," Frank murmured from his relaxed position on the loveseat.

"They never run when they should run," Joe said and took a sip of his Coke, "Why don't they run?"

"Strategy," Frank suggested.

"What strategy?" Joe snorted, "The strategy to lose the ball as much as possible?"

"Perhaps," Frank said slowly, "it could be a new thing."

Joe laughed, "Yeah, right." Joe reached out and put the TV on mute when the game went to commercial. "This is so much better than Lord of the Rings."

"What?" Frank asked.

"The doctor suggested I watch all three Lord of the Rings extended versions with subtitles in Japanese to keep myself busy and lying down," Joe replied.

"Ha, like that could keep your interest for very long," Frank rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Joe said with a smile, "I love that little Frodo guy and all his complaining about the ring."

Frank laughed, "You've never actually paid attention to those movies have you?"

"Not really," Joe shrugged, "I went to see the first one with Vanessa and I was too busy trying to get her to kiss me to watch some short guy run around the woods."

Frank laughed again and then stood up to get a drink, "you need anything?" he asked Joe.

"No," Joe replied hoping Frank wouldn't notice that it was time for him to take his medication. He had no such luck however when Frank's hand suddenly appeared in front of him holding a group of pills. "Aw, Frank. Come on."

"Don't make me force you to take these," Frank said lightly, "if I have to throw these in your mouth it might get unpleasant when you start choking on one of them."

"Fine," Joe grumbled and popped the pills and took the water Frank offered. "Are you happy now Nurse Ratched?" Frank just laughed and went back to his vacated seat on the couch. Joe un-muted the game when it came back on but couldn't help but feel like someone kept looking at him. Considering that there was only one other person in the room with him, he spared a glance at Frank and saw him just turning his head away. Joe turned back to the game nonchalantly but kept a lookout from the corner of his eye. He noticed Frank glance at him a few more times before he finally muted the game, "what?" he asked.

"What?" Frank echoed.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Joe demanded.

"I'm not," Frank tried to look innocent. Joe eyed him warily and turned back to the game.

They watched for a few more minutes before Joe gave up and turned the TV off altogether, "you keep looking at me!" He said in exasperation.

"No I don't!" Frank replied.

"Yes, you do," Joe said stubbornly, "what? Do I have something on my face?"

Frank stared pointedly at Joe's bandages, "yeah, actually," he replied, "you do."

Joe groaned, "Do you keep looking at me to see if I'm in pain or something?"

"No, because I'm not looking at you," Frank replied.

"Stop lying, you're a horrible liar," Joe responded grumpily. "Look Frank, I'm sore, I do have _some_ pain and yeah, my body is still reacting to the electric shocks against my will. But, I am _fine_."

"I know that," Frank replied just as grumpily, "I can worry."

"Yeah, you can worry," Joe agreed, "But there's nothing you can do. I'm healing; I'm going to be okay."

Frank thought about that for a moment, "I wouldn't say that there's _nothing_ I can do."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked warily.

Frank grew serious and leaned forward on the couch, "Joe, you were there for me when I needed you, when I was having those nightmares. I hope you know that I'll be here for you too…in case you need to talk about…anything."

Joe nodded his head, "Frank, I know that. We've been there for each other our entire lives. I wouldn't expect that to start changing now."

"Good," Frank said and leaned back on the couch, "now turn the game back on. I want to see how badly our team is messing everything up."

Joe smiled and pressed the power button on the remote control. It wasn't something he thought about too often because it was something that was just _there_. A person didn't think about something that they had always had in their lives unless something or someone brought it to their attention. He found himself now thinking about just how lucky he and Frank were to have each other. They had always had each other's backs.

The power of that bond hit him so hard in the chest he had trouble catching his breath, but it was a good feeling. He and Frank were the closest of brothers and he wouldn't change that for anything in the world.

* * *


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Thank you kindly for the lovely reviews! Thanks to everyone for reading! Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 28**

Walking into Frank's empty apartment later that afternoon Nancy threw her keys and purse on the nearest available surface and kicked her shoes off in the same motion. She collapsed on the couch and brought the blanket draped over the back of it over to cover her. She pulled the blanket up over her face and muffled a groan into it.

It wasn't that she hadn't had a good time with Andrea, Vanessa and Callie; on the contrary it had been a lot of fun being girly and trying on dresses. Afterward they had all gone to a local café for lunch and girl talk. She genuinely liked Callie and her positive opinion of her had only grown as she had listened to the woman talk and share pieces of her life.

No, Nancy was upset for two reasons. First, she couldn't believe how _exhausted_ she felt and knew that the events of the past week were really catching up to her. Her body ached and her wrists throbbed. The second reason was far worse in her book. She had missed Frank so much it had almost driven her to distraction. She couldn't believe that she, a seemingly independent individual minded, strong personality type of woman could find herself missing a man after only a few short hours.

It didn't occur to her to give herself a small break considering the events of the last few days. It didn't even cross her mind that she might be feeling this insane loneliness from being separated from Frank because their lives had been so stressful lately. No, the only thing Nancy could think was, _'Oh crap, I'm one of _those_ kind of girls now.'_

No matter how much the thought unsettled her she still couldn't muster up enough annoyance at the thought. She didn't want tot admit it, but she actually didn't mind being one of those kinds of girls, as long as it was Frank. Okay, well…she didn't mind _that_ much.

She sat up deliberately and pushed the blanket off of her. To prove that she was an independent woman not pining away for the man she loved she would find something to keep her busy. Looking around the small apartment she quickly grew frustrated by her lack of options.

She was saved from the disgrace of doing a second sweep of the room by her ringing phone. She answered it a little too quickly, not sparing a glance at the caller ID. "Hello?" she said breathlessly, waiting for Frank's warm voice to answer.

"Nancy?" instead of Frank's deep comforting voice she was greeted by a little girl's squeal.

"Ashley?" Nancy said and immediately smiled, this was the perfect distraction from missing Frank, "Ashley, how are you?"

"I'm great! I have a new Barbie," the little girl chirped, "I wanted to call you all day yesterday but my Dad said I couldn't because you were super busy and you had to renumerate."

"Renumerate?" Nancy asked confused. "Oh, recuperate."

"Yeah, renumerate," the girl prattled on, "when I was at the hospital Frannie bought me a teddy bear that was pink and it came with a pretty bracelet and you should have seen my dad he just cried and cried and," the girl lowered her voice, "I cried a lot too," her voice went back to its normal volume, "and I think Frannie and my dad are in love but they're not telling me anything because they think I'm fragile," the little girl scoffed in a very Joe-like manner, "I heard them talking about it yesterday and my dad says he's taking a lot of time off of work so we can spend time together, he's going to take me to the zoo! Will you go to the zoo with us? And bring Frank? And Joe? And Vanessa?"

Nancy laughed, "We'd love to. Just let us know when you're going."

"Great! Oh, I'm so excited!" Ashley said happily.

"Me too," Nancy agreed. She almost felt silly to ask but she did, "how are you feeling Ashley?"

"Good now that I don't have to sit in the dark by myself anymore. Daddy promised me he'd keep the bathroom light on at night for me plus my nightlight so that I don't have to be afraid and later this week I'm going to visit a nice lady and daddy says she's going to help me not be so afraid anymore."

Nancy smiled, glad that Ashley seemed to be on the mend and getting the help she needed. Children were so much more resilient than adults gave them credit for. She and Ashley talked for a few more minutes and with promises that her and Frank would be there to go to the zoo with them Nancy got off the phone.

Thinking of her time spent with Ashley reminded her of Eric and that she hadn't talked to him since the day before. She and Frank had stopped in to say thank you and check on him both times that they had been at the hospital to visit Joe. She decided to call and see how he was doing. She was told by the nurse on his floor that he was out of the room at physical therapy but that she would pass along the message that Nancy had called.

Sighing and thinking that she had run out of things to keep herself busy and not thinking about her current predicament Nancy resigned herself to waiting for Frank. She tried hard not to think of it as her waiting around for Frank hoping that he would provide something to do when he got home.

She couldn't help it when she heard his key in the lock and her heart jumped, "Frank!" she cried and she threw herself into his arms before he had even gotten in the door.

"Whoa," was Frank's muffled response, his face buried in her hair, "I guess I don't have to ask whether or not you missed me."

"I didn't really," Nancy said and the kiss she laid on his lips completely betrayed her words.

"Sure," Frank smiled and returned her kiss enthusiastically. He pulled away slightly, "I missed you too. How was the fitting?"

Nancy smiled, "it was a lot of fun."

"No blood was shed?" Frank asked seriously.

"Nope," Nancy replied, "you were right. I was being stupid. Callie is a wonderful person, not that I doubted that at all. More like, I doubted myself…"

"Yes she is," Frank agreed and kissed the tip of Nancy's nose, "I'm glad the two of you got along."

"Believe me, so was Vanessa. She's Callie's girl through and through," Nancy said with a smile.

"Oh yeah," Frank nodded in agreement. "It was always weird to me, how they seemed to share the same head, the same heart. It was…disconcerting to tell Callie something and two seconds later have Vanessa know about it." Frank stretched his arms over his head, "hey, my parents invited us over for a barbecue on Wednesday. You available?" he asked.

"Yes," Nancy said, "It looks like I'm going to be available a lot of the time for the foreseeable future," she said thinking of her impending unemployment. Even if she did apply at the Bayport PD right away there was bound to be some time in between.

"Don't worry, if you get too bored we've got some filing you could do down at the office," Frank smiled angelically over his shoulder. "We pay minimum wage plus the bonus of going home with the more handsome of the boss's two sons."

Nancy laughed loudly, "sure, Vanessa would love that," she said sarcastically and laughed harder when Frank shot her a dark look.

She led the way into the apartment, watching as Frank set his keys next to her discarded purse. She frowned as she studied his back when he headed for the kitchen. Something was up. Every FBI trained bone in her body screamed that something was going on with Frank. "Frank?" she said and followed him into the kitchen.

"Hm?" he said distracted, his head stuck in the fridge. He emerged a moment later with a take out container in his hand, "what?" he asked when he saw Nancy's face.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked and folded her arms.

Frank glanced down at the takeout box in his hands and looked convincingly innocent, but Nancy knew better, "oh do you want some of this? I can heat if up if you want, but I was just going to eat it cold."

Nancy rolled her eyes, "no, thank you."

"Okay," Frank shrugged but Nancy could see the tension in his body. Something was definitely going on.

"Frank," she said again this time phrasing the word as a statement rather than a question, "what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean," his back was turned to her as he opened a drawer to grab a fork.

"I can tell something's going on, what is it?" Nancy demanded, "It's like you're hiding something."

Frank's face had been half turned toward hers but Nancy didn't miss his grimace, "I'm not…hiding anything from you Nancy," his voice hesitating.

Nancy stepped forward and forced Frank to look at her. Her eyes narrowed, "you're nervous."

"No I'm not," Frank replied trying his hardest to employ his years of carefully monitoring his emotions so that the words came out and seemed to ring with truth. At Nancy's skeptical gaze Frank continued quickly, "I'm not nervous," he said thinking quickly, "but I guess I am a little…anxious." There, that was true at least.

"Anxious?" Nancy's eyebrows drew together again but this time it was a thoughtful expression instead of doubtful.

"Yeah," Frank responded, "I know I haven't had the nightmares since this whole thing ended but I'm afraid that once I've caught up on my sleep and I'm not so exhausted anymore they'll come back," that was mostly true, but he had to swallow the guilt when Nancy raised a hand up to cup his cheek tenderly. He wasn't really lying; he was trying to protect the surprise with half-truths.

"If it happens, I'll be there for you," she whispered.

"I know," he brought his hand up to rest on hers on his face and then slowly brought their joined hands down to clasp in front of them.

"That's not it though," Nancy murmured, "at least not all of it."

Frank swallowed, "uh," and he decided that he'd voice a real concern this time, not a half-truth, "I guess I'm feeling a little anxious about Joe," he finally conceded and he felt an incredible weight he didn't know he had lift off of his shoulders slightly at saying the words out loud. "What happened to him…" his voice trailed off as his memory betrayed him and played over what had happened in the warehouse again, "it's a lot to deal with and I have this horrible feeling that he's bottling it all up. When he does that…when he bottles it up like that, when it finally explodes it's not pleasant. I'm worried."

Nancy raised her free hand to smooth the worried lines on Frank's forehead, "and you'll be there to put him back together again when that happens," she said with conviction. It felt amazingly good to be so well understood. They stood like that for a moment, completely content in their silence before Nancy murmured, "I could swear there's something else wrong."

Frank frowned, "maybe you're overreacting, Agent. It's been a stressful couple of days." He felt bad making her doubt herself, but he couldn't help it. Now that he had decided on the barbecue surprise idea he wanted nothing more than for it to happen.

In a weird way he knew that the event would be oddly healing for everyone. Just walking through his house, _their_ house today he had felt the raw and frayed edges of his heart begin to knit together again.

When Vanessa had arrived back at the apartment she shared with Joe she had been so excited over the success of the dress fitting and Frank had seen that excitement drain from her face as she watched a spasm rip through Joe's body. It couldn't have been clearer that when Joe felt pain, Vanessa did also and vice versa. Frank knew what that was like because he felt the same way with Nancy.

Vanessa had put on a brave face and had danced over to the couch to give Joe a noisy welcome home kiss. She had demanded to know what the doctor had said and for Frank to show her exactly which medication Joe was to take and at what times. She had promised Frank that she would keep Joe in one place if it _did_ mean tying him there.

The whole time Frank could see the strain around her eyes, the excitement from her outing a small memory. "Vanessa," he had said when they were all settled again, Vanessa at the end of the couch with Joe's head in her lap.

"Yes?"

And Frank had told her all about the barbecue idea, seeing the excitement re-enter her eyes and then expand when she saw how much the idea appealed to Joe too. Their connection was so strong that she didn't just feel his pain; she felt his joy and happiness too. It had been hard to stop her then, when she had realized how much Joe wanted to do this and do it right.

That was why Frank was so hell-bent on keeping this barbecue a secret; he had faith that the event would have healing capabilities for all of the broken people in his life. He didn't hold out too high a hope that the party would have the same healing quality for him too, but he did hope that by seeing the people he cared about most in this world begin to heal, some of the self loathing he had felt since that horrible day in the warehouse would ease. It was becoming too much for him to bear.

"What are you thinking behind those serious eyes of yours?" Nancy murmured and Frank tore his gaze away from nothing to look down in her questioning eyes.

"I'm just thinking about the last few days," he replied truthfully, "how so many things could have gone wrong."

"Could have, but didn't," Nancy reminded him softly.

"Yes, could have but didn't," Frank responded quietly. The guilt and shame crashed over him in such a huge wave he was surprised that he didn't topple over. It was then that he realized he was still standing, still standing because Nancy's arms were wrapped around him, preventing the fall.

* * *

Vanessa sat curled up on the floor beside the couch, her head bent over the pad of paper as she scribbled furiously. Joe watched her face intently, memorizing her features for the thousandth time. He would never quite get used to how much he loved her, the love ran so deep he could feel it in his bones.

"Okay," Vanessa said finally and wiped her hair out of her eyes, "I think that's it. We have the guest list nailed down, assignments for everyone on what to bring, food, entertainment and ambience," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the last word.

"You're amazing," Joe said and lifted himself up far enough to kiss her temple.

"_We're _amazing," she corrected with a smile. "So, who should we call first?"

"I think we should call our out of state guests first, give them as much time as possible to be able to get here," Joe replied.

"Well, we really only need to call one person for that, he can coordinate the other out of state guests," Vanessa said, "you do it. I barely know him."

Joe groaned, he barely knew the man either but he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. It rang twice before it was answered, "Carson Drew," a professional voice answered the phone.

"Mr. Drew, this is Joe Hardy," Joe winced at Vanessa and she laughed at him quietly.

"Joe?" Carson's voice was laced in panic, "what's happened now? What's going on?"

"Nothing sir," Joe hastened to explain quickly, "everyone is fine. Nancy is still doing just fine and Frank is fine." The word 'fine' began to sound weird in his ears from his overuse of it.

"Okay," Carson said waiting for Joe to continue, "And?"

Joe quickly explained the entire story and for a moment Carson was silent, "they're moving in together?" he finally managed.

Joe gulped and silently cursed Nancy for not telling her father about the impending arrangements. "Um," was Joe's brilliant reply.

"Well," Carson sighed, "that's news. Hm. Okay, I'll call who I need to. You'll definitely see me there on Wednesday."

"Great," Joe sighed in relief when he realized Carson wasn't going to go off on him, "we'll see you then and remember Nancy doesn't know about this so…keep it a surprise." Joe tried to make the words sound less like a command. The thought of ordering Carson Drew around was laughable.

"I understand," Carson replied and soon Joe was hanging up the phone with a dramatic sigh.

Vanessa giggled, "Nancy hasn't told her father about her and Frank moving in together yet has she?"

"She doesn't need to now," Joe grumbled and resolved to make Nancy pay for the uncomfortable moment later.

"Okay, I'll call the next person," Vanessa offered and reached for Joe's phone.

"Yeah, the easy one," Joe grumbled and Vanessa laughed.

"We're taking turns babe, it's a lesson we can carry over into our marriage," she ignored Joe's grunt and punched in a number. It rang a few times before the person answered, "hello Chet?" she said finally.

"Vanessa? Hey, how's it going? How's Joe?" Chet had been by to visit his friend at the hospital yesterday but hadn't spoken to him since. "Still biting to get out of there?"

"Actually, he's out. Conditionally," Vanessa winked at Joe, "Chet, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," she told him about the house and the surprise barbecue.

"What can I do?" Chet asked.

"Do you have any white Christmas lights?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure," Chet asked sounding confused.

"Okay, gather them together and bring them with you tomorrow. Call everyone, Phil, Biff, Tony, Liz…everyone. Tell them to bring all of the white lights they can find and meet us at the house on Cherrywood Drive tomorrow at ten."

"Sounds good," Chet said happily.

"Do you still have that volleyball net?" Vanessa asked all business.

"Yeah," Chet replied.

"Bring that too," Vanessa instructed.

"Can do, see you tomorrow Vanessa," Chet said goodbye and Vanessa hung up the phone, feeling triumphant.

"Good work," Joe said with a smile. They spent the next hour taking turns making phone calls, inviting people outside of the Hardy's group of friends people Chet wouldn't be know to call, filling in Joe's parents and making arrangements for seating and tables for the party. Fenton agreed to provide the services of his massive barbecue and promised he'd have it at the house by tomorrow afternoon.

When all the calls were made Vanessa leaned her head back against Joe's stomach, "phew, this ordering your minions around is serious business. I'm wiped."

Joe laughed and started to sit up, "come on, it's late. Let's go to bed."

"It's barely seven thirty," Vanessa said looking at the clock on the wall.

"No it isn't its late, time for bed," Joe replied with an impish smile.

Vanessa caught on, "Joe Hardy! You're just out of the hospital! No way!"

"I'm fine," that overused word again sounded weird on his lips, "but if you'd like you can be very careful with me. That might be…interesting." He stood up slowly and reached down to offer his hand, a challenge in his eye.

Vanessa didn't often back down from a challenge, "that is an interesting proposal," she muttered.

"I bet you can't do it," Joe said with a knowing smirk, he knew he was about to get what he wanted.

"I bet I can," Vanessa answered his smirk and began to pull him lightly to the bedroom.

"Prove it," Joe said and closed the bedroom door behind them.

* * *


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I say it all the time, to the point where I'm _sure _I'm annoying…but man, I love to hear your thoughts! So, thank you! Thanks also to everyone who continues to read! Enjoy!

angry penguin: Lol, I wish Joe had thought to call Bess or George…that's a very good idea. :) Thank you so much for the review!

RedHardy: Three things: I'm glad you like the Joe/Vanessa stuff :) You're the expert! Second, I _knew_ that you were going to be irritated with Nancy…I just knew it! lol. And third, I'm sorry…I really hope you don't mind but I kind of leeched off the concept of Frank in the shower…I just couldn't help myself! That scene in your story has totally stuck with me… :) Please, don't hurt me!

Cheryl: No need to apologize! I hope things start to get better soon! I love writing Nancy as a "normal" girl…well, as normal as the most popular girl detective in the world can get. :) Thank you so much for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it.

Ukfan101: thank you for the review! Yeah, I got the idea for the "renumerate" thing from my little brother. He's always confusing words. :) It's pretty adorable.

Bhar: I love Nancy, but I happen to like Callie too and I never like it when she's made out to be the bad guy. I'm glad you agree with me!

Whitetigers: glad you enjoyed the ending, ...smirks…I did too! lol. I hate talking on the phone too, I was a receptionist for awhile and that cured me from phone conversations for the rest of my life. I wish I could throw my cell phone in a lake somewhere. :)

MissMe113: thank you for the review! I've been craving the zoo lately, too. :) How fun would it be to go to the zoo with the Hardy brothers?

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 29**

"Just think," Nancy said the next morning, "we get to do this every day, from now on." She smiled happily in the mirror at Frank who was busy running a towel over his wet hair.

"It's great, isn't it?" Frank replied and returned the smile. Still smiling Nancy brought her toothbrush up to her mouth and began brushing her teeth trying to look seductive. Frank laughed, "That's very attractive."

Nancy laughed and ducked her head down to spit in the sink, "we're so insatiable."

"Tell me about it," Frank laughed and left the bathroom to get changed. Nancy liked the fact that they were able to get ready for the day together comfortably. Frank had hopped in the shower and Nancy had come in to brush her teeth, no worries.

That didn't mean that it hadn't taken Herculean strength of will not to jump Frank's bones as soon as she pictured him in the shower. That she hadn't gritted her teeth in disappointment when Frank had come out of the shower already wearing a towel around his hips. Yet, at the same time she had been extremely grateful, because Frank looked _really_ good rocking a towel.

No, they were comfortable with one another but she knew she'd never get _that_ comfortable. The idea brought a smile to her lips as she rinsed out her mouth and left the bathroom quickly. Frank's back was to her as he faced his closet to pull out his clothes for the day. Nancy grinned wickedly and ran across the room.

She launched herself onto his back and began nibbling at his ear playfully, "Hey Frank, guess what I want to do," she said her voice light.

"What's that?" Frank laughed and turned his head into her kiss.

"Guess," Nancy said again and bit lightly on Frank's bottom lip.

"You're feeling playful," Frank observed but his eyes had gone dark with longing.

"Uh huh," Nancy said and pulled Frank to the bed.

Soon he was kissing her again and he pulled away slightly to murmur against her lips, "you taste like mint."

"Oh the aphrodisiac toothpaste," Nancy said knowledgeably, "it is very powerful, it's full of strengths and mysterious powers that have never been uncovered." Frank laughed and then he was kissing her again.

"Let's uncover them then," he suggested and Nancy was too far gone to form an articulate response.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Nancy sighed lazily. Who knew that it only took a certain…activity to make her and Frank feel very, very lazy. If only they had known on Sunday. Nancy was feeling so relaxed that she didn't even care that Frank was laying on one of her arms and one of her legs was twisted awkwardly around his middle.

Frank began to move and Nancy groaned in protest, "I'm crushing your arm," Frank explained and she pulled her arm out from under him when he sat up a little bit. He pulled her into his arms and they both settled back into bed a bit more comfortably. "That's better," Frank sighed.

"For who?" Nancy grumbled. She had actually quite liked the feeling of his weight on her, the feeling that they were so…lost that they didn't care how twisted up they were.

"For me," Frank replied, "I can't relax thinking that you might be uncomfortable."

Nancy smiled up at him, "you're the greatest," she said sincerely.

"Ditto," Frank responded.

Nancy looked around the apartment, "this place is already starting to feel like home." She felt Frank stiffen slightly under her and she looked back at him, "what is it?"

"Nothing," Frank said quickly and leaned down to distract her with a steamy kiss. Nancy had a split second to understand what he was trying to do before she couldn't think anymore.

* * *

"Chet!" Joe called from his perch on Frank's new back deck. He refused to sit in an actual chair, thinking that it made him look more like an invalid than he cared to. In truth, he was itching to get up to help and knew he would soon, but he and Vanessa had compromised on the seating arrangement and he'd humor her awhile longer. "Chet!" he repeated, "it's not an anaconda, stop trying to choke the life out of the Christmas lights!"

His assembled group of friends laughed and turned to look at Chet who indeed, looked to be trying to wrestle a huge pile of white Christmas lights, "it's not that simple! All of these lights Tony brought are knotted up!" Liz stood next to him holding whatever strands Chet had been able to untangle in her arms.

Tony shrugged, "we haven't used them in a few years. Mom decided one year she wanted every single Christmas light to be white and so we bought out the entire stock at the store. She was bored with it in a couple of days and we took them down, threw them in a box and…presto! Instant white Christmas light knot, the greatest the world has ever seen!"

The group laughed again and everyone went back to their activities. Joe picked up another white paper lunch sack and neatly cut it in two. He had no idea why he was doing this; he only knew that Vanessa had told him to cut the bags exactly in half. So he did.

He quickly finished the rest and saw that he had quite a large stack of cut in half white paper lunch sacks, "Vanessa!" he called, "what do I do with these?"

"Open them up!" she called back. She and Callie were busy string the Christmas lights Chet had been able to untie all around the back yard.

Joe had been surprised to see Callie drive up that morning; he hadn't thought that Vanessa would invite her to this. He was worried about how all of this would affect Callie but she seemed happy and content and genuinely wanted to help get the place ready for the surprise.

Callie and Vanessa had two of the large bushes that lined the back fence already completely covered. There seemed to be no end to the white lights and Joe was sure the place wasn't going to need any additional lighting at all when it turned dark and they turned the Christmas lights on.

"O-o-okay," he said drawing out the 'o'. He had no clue what he was doing but he pretended anyway. When he had a sea of opened lunch bags around him he looked up again, "what's next?"

Vanessa came over and pulled a large bag of tea lights out of one of her shopping bags, "put one of these in each bag," she instructed.

"Why?" Joe asked this didn't make any sense.

"Just do it," she instructed and reached into the shopping bag again, "and when you run out, use these." She handed him a second bag of tea lights.

"Sheesh," Joe muttered under his breath and opened the first bag, "you'd think they were getting married."

"Joe, this is their first _house_…_together_," she rolled her eyes as if everything was obvious. "We have to make this really special!"

"Okay, okay," Joe said throwing his hands up in defense. "I'll put the candles in the flammable paper bags. No problem."

Vanessa laughed, "They're called tea lights and trust me the bags won't catch fire."

Joe snorted, "_Tea lights_, she says," he mumbled. Vanessa laughed and reached down to give him a quick kiss before rushing back to Callie and a waiting strand of white lights. Soon Joe was finished with his task. He stood up, unable to sit any longer. He watched as Phil and Biff argued over how to raise the volleyball net in the far corner of the yard. It appeared that Phil was trying to come up with some sort of mathematical equation on how to raise it and Biff simply wanted to get started and figure it out as they went.

Joe shook his head, the Hardy's friends were very diverse, "Vanessa," he called, "where do you want these?" he swept his arm out to indicate the army of what he considered to be fire hazards waiting to happen.

"Um," Vanessa bit her lip and looked around at all of their friends, each busy with their own task, "well…" she didn't want Joe to move, even though he was already standing. She was hoping a nice sit down project would suddenly pop up but nothing came immediately to mind. "You can leave them there and we'll do them in a bit," she finally said.

"Har har," Joe replied and picked up a few of the bags, "I think I can handle carrying around a few paper bags. Where do you want them?" He completely missed Chet and Tony exchange a knowing smirk.

"Well," Vanessa seemed reluctant but seeing Joe's determined stance she gave in. After all, she would rather he did something that wasn't too strenuous. "Line them up around the deck, evenly spaced and place one on each of the tables, to start." She pointed at the circular tables the rental company had dropped off early that morning, each table was covered in a bright green table cloth. Joe's mouth had dropped open when the rental truck had pulled up that morning but he had found he couldn't protest the happiness he saw on Vanessa's face. He had just gritted his teeth and signed the invoice.

Joe began to carefully place the bags where Vanessa had instructed, hoping he was doing it right. They didn't look like much to him, but then, this party business wasn't really his thing. He could admit however, that the place was starting to look like it could hold a party.

"How long are you going to take off of work?" Callie's voice carried across the yard to Joe's ears. He listened carefully; this was something he was curious about as well.

"Probably the rest of the week," Vanessa replied in a quiet voice, as if she knew Joe was trying to eavesdrop.

"Really? Weren't you just on vacation?" Callie asked. Joe made himself bend over to place another of the white bags; he didn't want it to look like he was listening in.

"Yeah, but its okay. My boss understands I think. Joe needs me right now…" her voice trailed off and she added in barely a whisper, "he didn't sleep well last night."

Callie paused, "what do you mean?"

'_Good question,'_ Joe thought to himself. He didn't remember any specific nightmares, but he remembered that his sleep had been filled with dark spaces.

"He kept kind of…moaning and whimpering," Vanessa whispered and Joe strained his ears to hear, "and the spasms are worse when he sleeps."

Joe cringed, he had hurt Vanessa and he hadn't even known it. He didn't know how, but he was going to fix this. An involuntary shudder went through his body and he felt a small measure of satisfaction when he was able to keep the trembles from showing. He was getting better and better at hiding them, at least when he was awake.

His father walking around the side of the house brought Joe out of his reverie. "Hey Dad," he called and raised his hand in welcome.

"Hey Joe," Fenton smiled and then looked at the rest of the people in the yard, "hello everyone." Everyone repeated the greeting and Fenton looked back at his son, "I have the barbecue."

"Great," Joe stepped off the deck, "I'll help you with it."

"Joe, I don't think…" Fenton began but Joe cut him off.

"Dad, please let me help you with the barbecue," he grabbed his father's arm and quickly led him out of the backyard, "we've got to move quickly or she'll stop me."

Fenton chuckled, "as she should, son. You shouldn't be up and around like this."

"Trust me dad, I've been doing a lot of sitting and lying around," Joe groaned, "I don't know how much more I can take. Let me help you with the barbecue so I can feel manly again, she has me making decorations," he shuddered at the word.

Fenton smiled, "Joe, I value my life. I don't think I should let you do this."

Joe rolled his eyes, "Fenton Hardy is afraid of a thin blonde woman who doesn't even have long nails?"

"Yes," Fenton replied very seriously, "and to be completely honest with you I'm rather terrified of what your mother would do if I let you help me. Not to mention what _Frank_ would do to me."

Joe sighed, "They don't have to _know _I helped you." They had reached the back of the SUV now and Fenton had lifted up the hatch while they had been arguing.

Before Joe could reach past his father and grab one end of the barbecue huge beefy arms pushed him out of the way and reached into the trunk. Chet, with seeming no effort at all, pulled the barbecue out of the back and smiled at Joe, "Vanessa sent me," he said.

"Of course," Joe groaned and reached into the back for the propane tank.

His father beat him to it, "I've got that," he said and pulled it out of the trunk, "Joe, why don't you grab that," he motioned with his chin and began following Chet to the back of the house.

Joe looked at what his father had indicated and groaned. It was a pile of his father's barbecue tools. "Pathetic," he muttered and grabbed the tools and shut the back of the SUV violently. He stomped after his father and Chet, ignoring his body's protest at the unnecessary exertion.

He was _so_ ready for this whole, "Joe's an invalid keep him resting" thing to be over with.

* * *

Later that evening Joe and Vanessa stood on the back porch of Frank and Nancy's new house and surveyed their handiwork, all of their friends had left awhile ago. "Great job Van," Joe said and pulled her closer to her side and kissed her temple, "it looks fantastic."

"Thank you," Vanessa smiled and Joe saw the Christmas lights reflecting in her eyes, making them sparkle.

Vanessa and Callie and later Biff, Chet and Tony had wrapped all of the shrubs and bushes in the backyard with white lights and had strung them around the white gazebo they had set up to go over the food. The volleyball net had been set up and secured, in spite of the differences of opinion from Phil and Biff. The barbecue was set up and waiting, the food was in the fridge, the tables had their table cloths on them and their centerpieces which had expanded to include some sort of grouping of white flowers Vanessa had pulled out of her bag.

There were paper lanterns hanging from different places around the yard, Biff and Chet had suspended them using rope so that the lanterns floated above the tables. Everything looked absolutely perfect.

"One more thing," Vanessa murmured and reached into the last bag. She pulled out a basketball, "I figured I'd bring this just in case we forgot tomorrow." She tossed it toward the basketball court and it rolled to a stop next to the grass.

Joe was reminded of his conversation yesterday with his brother and he was absurdly touched that Vanessa would remember a basketball. She looked up at him, "Joe, are you alright?"

Joe nodded, not sure how to explain that a simple basketball had gotten him so emotional. It was embarrassing, "I'm fine Vanessa, really. I'm just so amazed how well you've pulled this off. You didn't forget anything and it looks great."

Vanessa smiled and kissed Joe's cheek, "we work well together."

"You're right," Joe agreed and opened his eyes wide as if something had just occurred to him, "hey, you wanna get married?"

"Sure!" Vanessa responded enthusiastically, "where's the rock, boy?"

"You're wearing it," he pointed at the ring on her finger and couldn't help but smile. No matter how long she had been wearing it, he still had the same reaction.

"This was given to me by my other boyfriend," Vanessa smirked, "I want a ring." She held her hand out expectantly, "come on!" she urged.

Joe did something she wasn't expecting then as he grabbed her outstretched hand in his and pressed his lips against her palm. The surprisingly romantic gesture had her teasing smile frozen on her face. Joe slowly flipped her hand over and repeated the move on the back of her hand before letting their joined hands drop and he stepped closer to her. He ran his fingers through her hair and laid his lips gently on hers, "I can't wait to make you Mrs. Joe Hardy," he breathed.

Vanessa melted, "let's do it now," she said breathlessly as her knees trembled, "forget the wedding. Let's elope."

Joe chuckled and pulled away slightly, "no way. Now that I've seen what you can do in an empty backyard, I can't wait to see what you've done with our wedding."

"Hey guys!" Frank's enthusiastic voice broke into the mood and shattered. Joe smiled and looked at his brother who was coming through the back gate. "I finally found a suitable excuse to get away from Nancy for awhile; she's got radar like you would not believe. Courtesy of the FBI I guess. Anyway…" his voice trailed off when he saw Joe and Vanessa. "Oops, am I interrupting something?" he didn't look the least bit embarrassed.

Joe and Vanessa answered at the same time, "No," she said.

"Yes," Joe replied.

Vanessa smiled, "we were just finishing up."

Frank looked around the backyard and smiled, "it looks incredible, great job Vanessa!"

"I helped too," Joe grumbled.

"Yeah right, this was clearly all Vanessa," Frank pointed at the lights and decorations, the hanging lanterns.

"He made those," Vanessa said pointing at the bags with the tea lights.

"You made decorations?" Frank's eyes gleamed mischievously, "in front of the guys?"

Joe decided to ignore Frank and asked a different question, "What have you been up to all day?"

"Nancy and I went to the office, tied up some loose ends, made sure other things were happening the way we wanted them to," Frank shrugged.

"You went to work?" Joe asked in amazement.

"Yeah," Frank looked uncomfortable, "I like work."

"I'll say," Joe rolled his eyes, "leave it to Frank."

"What are you doing here, Frank? Not that this isn't your house or anything," Vanessa asked with a smile.

"I've got some set up of my own to do," Frank replied mysteriously.

"What-?" Joe began to ask but Vanessa quickly grabbed her bag and tugged on Joe's arm.

"Let's get out of here, we'll leave Frank to his own devices," she suggested and pulled Joe off the back deck.

She stopped next to Frank and threw her arms around him, "thanks," Frank said, "thank you so much. This is great." It was more than great; it was above and beyond his wildest expectations. He had been right about this party; it was going to help heal the people he loved. He could already see it working in Joe and Vanessa's eyes.

Vanessa understood what Frank was trying to tell her and she smiled and nodded, "see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," Frank said and smiled at his brother, "later."

Frank watched as Joe and Vanessa walked around the house and out of the backyard, their arms around the each other.

He picked up the two bags he had carried with him and headed into the house, stopping to turn off the Christmas lights on his way in. With a few more trips down to his car Frank had everything he needed and got to work.

His last stop was the front living room and he paused in front of the fireplace. He pulled the dark wood frame out of his bag and carefully set it on the mantel. The frame held two pictures. The first was from their early days as a couple, the night they had gone ice skating with Vanessa and Joe. The second was more recent, taken on their vacation before the misery of the last week had happened.

He could remember taking the picture vividly. He and Nancy had been walking along the beach, Nancy collecting small colorful stones as they went. Frank was taking pictures of the ocean, the beach and Nancy. She had teased him about not being in any of the pictures before she grabbed the camera from him and had taken a picture of the two of them. The ocean in the background, his arms wrapped firmly around her, their faces close.

Frank smiled as he looked at the pictures now. Two great memories in a slew of great memories and it had only been eight months. Frank looked forward to framing a lot more pictures.

* * *


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Probably only one or two chapters to go after this one, it depends on how overboard I go…if I do go a little crazy, please forgive me! A lot of the things that happened to Nancy, Vanessa and the Hardy's in this story are going to leak into my next story which is tentatively titled "Four Times Too Many", so don't expect _everything_ to get resolved by the end.

Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 30**

"You need a shave," Vanessa said Wednesday morning and rested her hand on Joe's prickly cheek.

"I've been growing it out to match my new hardcore haircut," Joe replied with a smirk. He didn't tell her that he was actually afraid of the electric razor in the bathroom.

"Hm," was all Vanessa said and her eyebrows furrowed, "I've never seen you with stubble before."

"The Hardy men are infamous not only for their detecting skills but for their inability to handle facial hair very long. It's very itchy," Joe replied and set his coffee cup in the sink. "Our facial hair doesn't grow that fast either, I think it knows how much we despise it."

Vanessa laughed and leaned up to give him a quick kiss. She pulled away with a sour look on her face, "its weird kissing something so poky."

"I'll shave it if you want me to," Joe replied.

"Oh, I don't mind it," Vanessa said with a shrug, "but just imagine the teasing you'll get from Frank and your father tonight at the barbecue."

Joe thought about this for a moment before nodding, "Good point."

"I think so," Vanessa smiled and placed her cup in the sink beside Joe's. If she had any idea why Joe hadn't shaved in the last few days, that he was afraid he would be transported back to that awful warehouse at the mere sound of his razor, she would have happily lied and said that kissing his prickly face was the most amazing experience of her life.

She didn't know this however because Joe hadn't shared with her the moment of pure panic he had when she had begun to shave his head at the hospital. He knew that if he had Vanessa with him, holding his hand it wouldn't be so bad, but he had no idea how to ask her that question. _'Hey babe, can you hold my twenty-three year old hand while I shave with an electric razor? It would help if you'd speak soothingly to me at the same time. Thanks.'_

There was no way that was going to happen. Not only was it humiliating but he didn't want Vanessa to worry about him. He didn't want to ruin her euphoric mood from the set up of the barbecue yesterday and her happiness over the surprise for Nancy.

He smiled and kissed her before rubbing his scruffy cheek on her smooth one. She laughed and pushed him away lightly, "get out of here!" she was still laughing as he made his way down the hall and to their bathroom.

He shut and locked the door behind him; he didn't want Vanessa to accidentally walk in on him if this suddenly went awry. He reached into his drawer and pulled out his electric razor. He stared at it for a moment and when no feelings of unease or ghost pains from the warehouse came to him he sighed in relief, "maybe this won't be so bad," he muttered to himself.

He flipped the switch on and when the buzzing sound filled the bathroom it seemed to echo off the walls and bash into his head. He didn't realize he had dropped the razor until his hands were gripping the counter in front of him for support. His mind was spinning as the panic seemed to flood through him. The images he had seen in his mind of his loved ones being brutally raped and murdered came back in full force mixed together with the reality of the images of Greg torturing him.

Joe squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his mouth closed, determined not to cry out, determined not to alert Vanessa of his panic attack. The razor still hummed harmlessly on the counter top and Joe was finally able to reach down and shut it off.

His breathing deep and erratic he backed up and slid down the bathroom wall, resting his arms on his knees he hung his head and took deep, calming breaths. _'This is pathetic, Hardy'_ he thought to himself, _'you can't even shave your face without having a breakdown.'_ He quickly grew angry with himself at his reaction even though his heart still beat furiously. He stood up shakily and an involuntary shudder wracked his body, the worst one in days. He steadied himself and gripped the counter for support

"This is stupid," he repeated in a whisper and angrily grabbed the razor again. He flipped it on and before he had time to think he brought it to his face. The images came back and this time they were more pronounced, more real than they had ever been before. Joe quickly turned off the razor and stared at his pale half shaved face in the mirror. He realized his eyes were watering and sweat was pouring down his face.

Slowly he returned the electric razor to the drawer and then reached under the sink for the supplies he hadn't used since he had gotten the electric razor for Christmas. He pulled out the regular razor and the shaving cream and placed them on the counter. Taking a deep breath he set about shaving his face the old fashioned way.

* * *

"I just can't figure out where those jeans went!" Nancy said in exasperation as she and Frank got ready for the barbecue. Nancy thought they were going to his parents. Frank knew that they were actually going to their new house.

"Have you checked the laundry?" Frank suggested helpfully. He knew exactly where those jeans were. They were currently sitting in their new house, the house she knew nothing about. Frank swallowed his nervousness and went to the closet to grab out a shirt. He knew that if Nancy looked closely enough she would notice a few of her other possessions missing.

"Yeah," Nancy sighed, "maybe they're still at my apartment…but I could _swear_ I left them here!"

"Huh," was all Frank said as he did the buttons up on his shirt. "Oh well, you don't need them tonight."

"No," Nancy's gaze swept the room again as if the missing jeans were just going to pop up out of nowhere.

"You look beautiful," Frank said and pulled Nancy into his arms.

"Thanks," Nancy replied, "and you look devastatingly handsome."

Frank laughed, "Is that new?" he asked as he looked at Nancy's knee length dress. It was teal and white and looked gorgeous next to her strawberry hair.

"Sort of, I bought it awhile ago for our trip but I didn't get the chance to wear it," Nancy slipped on her sandals.

"Well, it looks amazing," Frank replied.

Nancy took in Frank's tan slacks and white button up shirt, "same to you, sugar," she said and ended with a wolf whistle.

Frank roared with laughter, "I don't think I've ever laughed as much as I have with you."

Nancy's face warmed at the words, "laughing is an essential part of any relationship."

"I absolutely agree," Frank responded.

"It feels weird getting so dressed up for a barbecue at your parents," she commented as she fastened her earrings.

Frank shrugged and tried to look innocent, "mom said that a bunch of colleagues of Dad's were going to be there." Frank shrugged again, wondering if he was over doing it with the shrugging, "Dress to impress." Frank resisted the urge to shrug again and smiled inwardly. He never had any problem playing a role when he needed to. When his life was on the line or if he was undercover on a case he could be someone else no problem, but when he wasn't working on a case he found it almost impossible to play a role. When he wasn't lying to protect someone's life, it didn't come easy to him.

"I know how that goes," Nancy said, completely oblivious for once of Frank's nervousness, "when dad's business associates came over for dinner you always put on your best look." She batted her eyelashes at him and Frank laughed half-heartedly.

"Yeah," he said swallowing nervously. He was sure that this house idea was a good one, but now that it was already done, that there was no backing out he was starting to feel nervous. What if he had overestimated his and Nancy's connection? What if Nancy didn't feel the same burning need to be with him that he felt for her? What if she _hated_ the house and she let him know in front of all of their friends and family?

Frank remembered Joe telling him that at least Carson was going to be there from Nancy's family and he gulped audibly. Joe had also told him that Carson hadn't been aware that he and Nancy were moving in together. A whole new terrifying scenario for the evening ahead began to play in Frank's head.

On top of his worries about Nancy's reaction he now had to worry that Carson Drew was going to possibly rip his head off.

If Nancy wasn't in the same place he was…if she wasn't ready to take such a gigantic step. The implications of buying a house were clear: I want you, badly. I want you in my life forever. I want to start a family with you. What if Nancy didn't want all of those things the same way he did? The very thought of it had Frank's heart twisting in pain.

What was he doing? Nancy was going to go screaming in the other direction when she was confronted with the house.

"Frank?" Nancy's voice suddenly broke through his horror and he quickly focused his eyes on her questioning face.

"Huh?" he managed.

"I lost you there for a second," she smiled, "is everything alright?"

He settled on telling her another half truth, "You mentioned your father. Have you told him we're moving in together yet?"

Nancy laughed, "With everything that's been going on I haven't mentioned it to him, but I'm sure he'll be okay. He just needs the news broken to him gently and slowly and at the right time."

Frank nodded and tried to hide his panic _'hopefully Joe broke the news to him gently and slowly and at the right time,'_ he thought desperately to himself. _'Who am I kidding? Joe has all the subtleness of a Mack truck.' _To Nancy he said, "Good." It was all he could manage to get out without his voice breaking with nerves.

"Should we get going?" Nancy asked as she glanced at the clock.

"Yeah, probably," suddenly Frank wanted nothing more than to stay in the apartment and never leave. _He_ couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect of their new house but his imagination was running away from him, teasing him with all sorts of terrible outcomes as a result of his surprise. The worst one involved Nancy's angry face storming out of the house he had already built so many dreams on in front of all of their friends and family and ended with Carson Drew quite literally ripping his head off. It wasn't pretty.

Nancy was already moving to the door of the bedroom when Frank decided to stall, "Um, wait," he said thinking quickly, trying to come up with some legitimate reason for staying put, "let's um…"

"Let's um, what?" Nancy asked raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay Frank? I've never heard you use the word 'um' twice in one sentence before. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever heard you say the word 'um' at all."

Frank started to speak but quickly stopped himself when he realized that there was another 'um' threatening to bubble up. He took a quick breath before settling on a tactic he was sure _might_ work, "you look really great in that dress." Hey, he was a guy wasn't he? He was allowed to think of sex all the time. He stepped forward and put his hands on her waist, "so beautiful," he breathed and kissed her softly. He was grateful to find that his voice didn't sound desperately frightened but almost husky.

"Thanks," Nancy breathed against his lips and leaned up against him, pressing her body more securely against his. They kissed for a moment more before Frank turned the kiss passionate, desperate. Nancy could feel her mind losing control as a thousand nerve endings in her body screamed at the heady response in his lips. She almost gave in to his lips demands when suddenly reason crept back into her brain, "Frank, we have to go."

"No," Frank said a little too quickly. He deliberately slowed his voice down, "I mean…we can be a little late."

"But your father's colleagues?" Nancy asked before Frank captured her lips again.

"They can wait," Frank replied.

"Won't your dad be…" her breath caught in her throat as Frank began to kiss his way down her neck, "…mad?" she was finally able to finish.

"No," Frank lied. Of course his dad would be mad, if they really were on their way to a barbecue with a bunch of his friends.

"Yeah right Frank," Nancy said and laughed. She pushed him away slightly but he kept his hands firmly locked on her waist. A part of her thrilled that even after eight months her body still reacted the same way it had at the very beginning of their relationship. It was amazingly comforting to know that what her head was telling her was reflected perfectly by the feelings in her heart. "Come on," she said and grabbed one his hands, dragging him down the hall, "let's go."

Frank grabbed his keys reluctantly and followed her out of the apartment, locking the door behind them. They held hands as they walked down to the car together and Frank opened the passenger door for her.

He took his time rounding the car to the driver's side, hoping that she didn't notice his dragging feet. He climbed into the car and took his time fastening his seat belt and adjusting mirrors that didn't need to be adjusted.

Frank noticed Nancy staring at him skeptically, "what are you doing?" she asked.

"Just, you know…checking all the mirrors," Frank replied and fiddled with the rearview mirror.

"Okay," Nancy nodded, "why?"

"Um, I thought that maybe Joe had messed with them when he drove my car last. They've felt kind of off since then," Frank couldn't help the outright lie because Nancy seemed to swallow it, but not entirely because she continued to look at him like he was crazy.

Frank drove even slower than he normally did out of the apartment complex and out onto the main road. "I wonder if we should stop by the store, if my parents need anything," he was grasping at straws and he knew it.

"Okay, should we call them?" Nancy asked reaching for her purse.

Frank sighed; there would be no point in calling his parents, "no. If they need something when we get there I'll make Joe go get it." he tried for a smile and was happy to see that he succeeded somewhat because Nancy smiled back.

Frank noticed the street they were on a felt a fresh wave of panic crash over him. Since when had it taken such a short time to get to Cherrywood Drive? He saw the realtor's sign ahead of them; he had requested that they keep it up for another day, hoping the sign would help with the surprise.

Frank saw an additional sign posted that read, "Open House Today". Vanessa had called this morning with the idea to borrow the sign from the realtor; apparently they had agreed to let them use it for the day. He noticed a few cars parked down the street that he recognized but hoped that Nancy wouldn't be paying close enough attention.

Frank slowed in front of the house, "What a nice place," he said as nonchalantly as he could muster.

Nancy looked up from her date book she had been looking through and paused, "wow, you're right." She closed the book and put it back in her bag, "Frank, do you know what street this is?"

Frank tried to play innocent, "maybe," he hedged.

Nancy rolled her eyes and pointed to the middle of the street right in front of the house, "that's where our relationship started."

"I know," Frank smiled now and it was genuine. "They're having an Open House, let's take a look."

"What?" Nancy glanced at her watch, "we're going to be late for your parents…"

"They can wait," Frank said hastily. Now that they were here he couldn't wait to get the big moment over with. Whether the outcome was good or bad he just wanted it to be done.

He jumped out of the car and waited for Nancy to follow, "it doesn't look like anyone's here, there aren't any cars."

"The sign says it's an open house," Frank shrugged and pulled her up the front walkway.

"Why are we doing this again?" Nancy asked.

"Because it'll be fun," Frank said and reached out to grip the front door handle. He pushed the door open and they stepped inside.

"Oh, it's wonderful," Nancy breathed, "like a house out of my dreams." Frank's heart soared at her words; maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. "Which way first, right or left? Where do you think the realtor is?"

"Um, let's go this way," Frank suggested and took Nancy's hand to lead her into the living room.

"Wow," Nancy said and looked around the large hardwood floored room. There was a huge bay window overlooking the front yard, "look Frank, stand here and you can see the spot where we kissed." They stood staring out onto the street and they both saw it much differently. Instead of washed in a late summer sun they both saw it covered in snow, with two cars parked in the middle of it.

Frank had to hide a smile. The famous Nancy Drew had yet to see the picture frame on the mantel, her usually impeccable eye for details had completely missed it. They turned and slowly circled the room. Her fingers trailed over the built in bookshelves in the corner of the room and Frank could almost see the wistfulness in her face.

"This place needs a family," she murmured as they came closer and closer to the mantel.

"I agree," Frank replied as Nancy's eyes skimmed across the fireplace and up, up, up. They rested on the framed pictures of her and Frank and she froze, right there in the middle of the room.

"Frank?" she whispered and walked slowly forward to run a hand across the pictures. Frank stood where he was until she turned to look at him, "what's this?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"They're pictures of us," Frank replied his voice hoarse.

"I can see that," Nancy said, "why are they here?"

"I thought they'd look good on our mantel," Frank replied quietly, watching Nancy's face for signs of anger. Nancy's face was carefully composed however and didn't give away a trace of her feelings.

"_Our _mantel," she finally said and swallowed.

"Yes," Frank replied, getting anxious now.

"You…" she seemed to be weighing each word carefully as she looked around the room, "you… bought…us…a house?"

"I did," Frank confirmed.

"I…can't," she looked at him then and her eyes betrayed her. They were brimming with happiness. Frank let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, "I can't…I don't know how to express." She brought a hand up to rest on her heart.

"You're not mad?" Frank asked.

"Mad?" Nancy seemed to choke on the word, "Mad? Why would I be…I don't…" she was completely at a loss as to what to say. "Frank…" she knew that anything she said right now would be completely unintelligible and so she crossed the distance between them at a quick run. She leapt into his arms and smashed her lips against his. This wasn't the same kiss from earlier, a slow passionate rise to a burning flame. No, this was an exuberant kiss meant to express sheer joy. "I love you!" she cried and kissed him again once, twice, two quick kisses like exclamation points, "I love you so much!"

"I love you too," Frank replied and kissed her again.

"You are the most amazing…I can't believe…you bought a house…." She was speaking in short choppy sentences, completely unlike her, "and this house! The house on Cherrywood Drive…you are so romantic…and I can't believe it…and…"

"And?" Frank prompted when she didn't continue.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she whispered wonderingly and kissed him again. Before he could respond she pulled quickly away, "is this why you've been such a nervous wreck?"

"Yes," Frank admitted, "I was afraid you wouldn't like it…"

"Wouldn't like it?" Nancy was speechless.

"Yeah," Frank replied with a shrug. All of his fears from earlier seemed silly now.

"Oh you adorable, amazing man," Nancy laughed and kissed him again before pulling him out of the room, "I want to look at the rest of the house! _Our_ house!"

Frank let her pull him through the rest of the rooms on the first floor, thankful that she didn't want to pull open any of the blinds that would look out into the backyard. In each room she found something else to fall completely in love with. With each step she found herself more and more in love with the man beside her and the house he had bought for them.

They ended in the kitchen and Nancy whistled, "I've never been much of a cook, but I'll happily buy an apron just to be able to use this." She took in the granite countertops and the large island in the middle of the room, "how much _was_ this place?" she asked in awe as she pulled open the stainless steel refrigerator door.

She paused when she saw that it was full of food and…beer. Lots and lots of beer, "why is the fridge full of food and since when have we been such alcoholics?"

Frank groaned, "Joe," he said.

"Joe?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, and probably Chet too," Frank replied.

"What are you talking about? Did Joe buy us our first groceries or something?" Nancy looked in the fridge and saw a large pile of meat, "we'll be eating meat for a month straight."

"That's not exactly…" Frank's voice trailed off, "I guess it's time for part two of the surprise."

"There's a part two?" Nancy asked in amazement.

"It's time to look at the backyard, it's big. You'll like it," Frank walked toward the back door.

"I haven't seen upstairs yet," Nancy said and looked down the hallway to the stairs, "let's finish with the house first and then go outside."

"Let's do this first," Frank pulled open the back door and waited for Nancy to walk over. "Should I cover your eyes for the second surprise?"

Nancy looked at him quizzically, "it's just a backyard, right?"

"Sure," Frank shrugged. Nancy walked past him and stepped out onto the porch.

Suddenly Frank was nervous again, _'please let her react just as well to part two as she did to part one!'_ he stepped out onto the deck just as there was a massive sound that washed over both of them.

"Surprise!" the sound was way too loud for the ten or so people Frank had expected. It sounded like…his eyes looked around the yard and his mouth dropped open…it sounded like a lot more people than that and it _looked_ like it too. It looked like Joe and Vanessa had called everyone they had ever known.

Beside him Nancy stood unnaturally still as she took in the scene in front of them. Suddenly Frank was more nervous that he had been all day, _'whoops, this might have been a little overboard,'_ he thought to himself as Nancy continued to stand perfectly still next to him.

* * *


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Sorry, this chapter is full of choppy little scenes full of information, I hope you don't mind…but when I was writing this chapter that's just how it turned out and I didn't have the patience to re-write it. :) I'm really excited about my next story so I'm having a really hard time staying in _this_ story if you know what I mean. :) Anyway, I took such a long time to give out all of the information I wanted to in this chapter so there might be two more chapters after this…or maybe just one…I'm sorry, I just don't have any clue. lol.

Okay, thanks everyone for reading and thanks to those of you who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Enjoy!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 31**

"All done?" Vanessa called from outside the bathroom door. Joe stared at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

"Yeah!" he called and feeling reasonably composed he reached over to open the bathroom door for Vanessa.

"You're bleeding!" She exclaimed when she saw his face, "how did you cut your face shaving?"

"Um," Joe looked in the mirror and saw that he had indeed cut himself. His hands hadn't been as steady as he thought they were.

"I didn't think electric razors were dangerous," she teased.

"They're not," Joe replied with what he hoped appeared to be a genuine smile, "mine just ran out of battery, that's all. I had to use a regular shaver."

"Oh," Vanessa nodded and reached for her brush that lay on the counter. She began to brush her hair, the whole time eyeing Joe carefully. He seemed to be moving very deliberately, careful to monitor his movements. Joe quickly kissed her cheek and left the bathroom.

Vanessa sighed and laid her brush back down on the counter. She hated being suspicious of Joe, but she knew that he was prone to hide things from her if he thought they might upset her. She reached into the drawer and pulled out his electric razor.

Poking her head out of the bathroom door and seeing that Joe was no longer in the bedroom she quickly shut the door and locked it. She pulled a towel off the rack, hoping to help muffle the noise. She wrapped the towel around the razor and turned it on. She let it run for a moment before she quickly turned it off.

Joe had lied, why? Vanessa quickly returned the towel and the razor as she thought of all the reasons why Joe would lie to her. Nothing made sense, why would Joe lie about something as simple as not using his electric razor? It was silly.

Suddenly, it hit her. The only plausible reason for Joe lying to her was the same reason why he moaned and whimpered in his sleep. Greg Atkinson. Vanessa felt a white hot fury engulf her body as she thought of the vile, twisted man. He had tortured _her_ Joe. He had forced Joe to see things so ghastly he wasn't willing to even try and describe them to anyone. He had hurt Joe so much that he was unable to shave with an electric razor.

Vanessa shuddered as the realization dawned sharp and bright, "I can't believe it," Vanessa breathed, "what should I do?" She stared at her horrified face for a moment in the mirror, what could she do to help Joe?

"Babe?" Joe called from the living room.

Should she talk to him about it now? Should she confront him with what she knew? She decided to wait and gauge his mood and expression when she saw him. If he looked happy and content she could wait until tomorrow, after the barbecue. She knew how much he was looking forward to the event and she didn't want to cloud the day with what she knew.

She walked down the hallway, "yeah?" She saw him sitting on the couch putting on his shoes and waited, holding her breath, for him to look up at her.

"You ready to go? We have a lot of grocery shopping to do," his face was lit up in one of his trademark Joe Hardy grins and he seemed to be in perfect control. Vanessa just couldn't bring herself to take that away from him.

She sighed and smiled back, "I'm always ready for shopping," she said, giving the response she knew he wanted to hear.

"Let's go then," Joe said standing up to grab his wallet and keys.

Vanessa followed silently, almost forgetting to grab her purse; she was so deep in thought. If Joe was able to keep on with his day with some semblance of control, then she could to. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for a very distracting afternoon.

* * *

"When are they going to get here?" Laura asked her son later that day.

"About thirty minutes," Joe replied looking at his watch.

"I'm so nervous!" Laura said and Fenton smiled and wrapped his arm around his wife.

"Me too," Vanessa replied.

"The backyard looks spectacular Vanessa, you did a great job," Laura said with a smile.

"Thank you, Joe helped," Vanessa wrapped and arm around his waist and Joe pulled her closer to him.

"The two of you invited quite a few people," Carson Drew observed as he looked around the party. Everyone was sort of mingling and nibbling on finger foods.

"I'm more surprised by how many people you got to come, Carson," Fenton observed looking around at all of the people who had flown in early that morning.

"Believe me, I'm a bit surprised myself. Some of these people I didn't even call, they just found out on their own." Carson chuckled.

"Is everyone here who is supposed to be here?" Laura asked Joe.

"I think so," Joe frowned and glanced at the crowd, "there are so many people I have a hard time knowing for sure."

The group was silent for a moment before Laura looked up at her husband and exchanged a meaningful look. She was still looking at her husband when she said, "Joe," she looked at her son, "could we talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure mom, dad," Joe said slightly puzzled. Laura and Fenton led Joe away from the crowd and toward the side of the house. When they were as alone as they could get in the backyard and no one could overhear them they stopped.

"Joe honey, your father and I have something to give you," Laura looked at her husband and Fenton pulled an envelope out of his pocket.

"Don't open this right now, wait until later when you're with Vanessa," Fenton instructed.

"It's for your wedding honey," Laura said with a smile.

"What?" Joe was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this. "Mom, Dad…this isn't necessary."

"We know that son," Fenton said nodding, "but we don't want you to start your life with Vanessa horribly in debt," he grinned and Joe laughed nervously.

"Use it for your wedding or use it for something else to start your life with Vanessa, but use it. We're not taking it back," Laura's voice was stern.

"I…" Joe's voice trailed off as he looked down at the envelope in his hands, "I…thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome sweetie," Laura smiled and Joe rushed forward to give her a big hug. He turned to his father and hugged him too.

"Are you sure I can't open it now?" Joe asked with a laugh.

"Wait until you're with Vanessa," Laura said and smiled. "I suppose you can open it when we're done here."

"Okay," Joe was still staring at the envelope in shock. He had no idea how much money was in it, but that part wasn't important. The important part was that his parents had given him a great gift, one that he hadn't expected.

"Now Joe," Laura began again and Joe noticed his father smile and start to back away slowly, leaving Joe and Laura to have a mother son moment.

"Yeah?" Joe asked, curious as to what else his mother could have to tell him.

"I wanted to ask your opinion on something and to get your…okay," Laura smiled and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a black jewelry box, "this is my engagement ring. I'm planning on giving it to Frank tonight if the opportunity presents itself, but regardless if it is tonight, tomorrow or next month, I'd like to give it to him. Are you okay with that?"

Joe could see the anxiousness clouding his mother's pretty face and he hastened to reassure her, "of course mom! Absolutely! I always figured you'd give that ring to Frank. Besides, Vanessa already has her heirloom; her ring was her grandmother's."

"Are you positive? I don't want to cause any sort of rift," Laura looked worried.

Joe laughed now, "Mom, you must be worried, why else would you say something so ridiculous? Frank and I are closer than that mom, and you know that. A ring, even if it is a very special ring, is not going to come between us. Trust me. I _want_ Frank to have that ring. Vanessa has the ring that makes her happy and that's all that matters to me."

"Okay, you're right," Laura sighed with relief and put the box back in her pocket, "I knew I was being silly but I just had to make sure you were okay with it first."

"I'm more than okay with it," Joe said and wrapped and arm around his mother's shoulders as they walked back to join the group, "I think it's a very good idea."

* * *

Nancy stood where she was, in complete shock, "surprise!" the crowd in front of her yelled. That was exactly how you would describe the group of people standing in front of her and Frank: a crowd.

She was silent for a moment as she let her emotions run their course. Finally, she looked at Frank who was staring at her in concern. He almost looked…worried.

Nancy turned to face the crowd and smiled, "Hey everyone! Frank and I will be right back," a few people sniggered as she grabbed Frank's hand and yanked him back into the kitchen.

She carefully closed the door behind them and turned to face Frank, who was looking very worried now. "Nancy, I'm sorry…I didn't think Joe and Vanessa would invite so many people…"

"Be quiet," Nancy instructed, "I didn't want to do this in front of everyone…"

Frank gulped and braced himself for the storm of fury that he knew was headed his way, "Nancy…"

"Quiet!" She said again and then did something completely unexpected. She crossed the distance between them and backed him up so his back hit the kitchen counter and she brought her lips to his in a fiery, passionate kiss. Frank was momentarily stunned before he threw his arms and his whole self into the kiss, "Frank…" she murmured against his lips.

"We've been doing a lot of this lately," Frank said as Nancy kissed his lips again.

"It's been a roller coaster day, let me tell you," Nancy grinned.

"You're not mad?" Frank asked raising his eyebrows.

"How could I be mad? You're the most thoughtful, caring man I have ever met. I can't believe that you would do all of this for me," she kissed him again.

"Good, because for a minute there I thought I was in the dog house," Frank smiled.

"No, I just didn't want to embarrass you in front of what appears to be everyone we have ever known," Nancy laughed.

"They probably think you're beating me to a pulp right now," Frank said with a laugh.

"We'd better get out there then," Nancy grabbed his hand and then grimaced, "was that my dad I saw?"

Frank grimaced too, "uh…yeah."

"Uh oh," Nancy murmured and opened the back door. She looked at Frank and laughed. She was rubbing her lipstick off his face as they stepped back outside to roars of laughter and applause. "Sorry folks," Nancy said and tried not to turn red in embarrassment.

Frank turned to everyone and smiled, "welcome to our new home, thanks for coming out to celebrate with us today. We really appreciate it."

With that everyone started talking at once and before she was engulfed in her family and friends Nancy was able to look at everyone who had come to the barbecue. There was her father and Hannah, her Uncle Bob and her Uncle Chuck and next to them was a grinning Bess waving happily. Nancy smiled and waved back, eager to get the chance to talk to her best friend.

Next to her family stood a group of the Hardy's friends Chet, Biff, Tony, Phil and Liz and Nancy was happy to see Callie there as well along with her parents. Next to that was a group of some of her friends from the agency and her partner Michael. Next to the agents stood a few of the members of the Bayport PD including Chief Collig and Con Riley. The Shoemakers Bernie, Mary Alice, Robert and Ashley stood to one side along with Frannie who Nancy noticed was holding tight to Robert's hand. Then she saw Fenton, Laura, Joe and Vanessa and she smiled wide as Vanessa came running up to her.

"Congratulations!" she said and threw her arms around Nancy.

"Thank you!" Nancy said and hugged her back. "The yard looks fabulous," she said sincerely as she took in the decorations.

The next few minutes were a blur of friends and family as everyone took their turns congratulating Frank and Nancy on their new home.

Chief Collig was very eager to talk to Nancy. After he had given his congratulations to both her and Frank he turned to face her, "I hear you're looking for a job."

Nancy's mouth opened in surprise, "yes, how did you know?" she finally managed.

"The two of you were a little slow in getting here, people talk," the Chief shrugged. "Let me know if you're really interested in the Bayport PD, we could probably make some room for you."

Nancy laughed, "thank you sir."

Frank barely had time to kiss Nancy's cheek before Bess came running up and yanked her into a big hug. Chet, Biff, Tony, Phil and Liz also came up at the exact same time and closed Frank in the middle of their circle, effectively separating the couple.

"Oh Nancy!" Bess gushed, "How amazing is this house?"

"I know, it's beautiful," Nancy gave her friend a hug, "it's so good to see you again!"

"George is really sorry she couldn't be here, but she couldn't get the time off work," Bess explained her cousin's absence. In typical Bess fashion she switched topics quickly, "who's the dish?" she asked eyeing Frank and Joe's friends.

"Who?" Nancy looked over at the group around Frank and frowned. "Tony? That one right there?"

"No," Bess breathed.

"Who then? Wait a minute, I thought you were dating a stockbroker or something," Nancy said in confusion.

Bess waved her hand as if dusting something unpleasant away from her, "pfffft, the man was constantly thinking about money."

"Bess, I thought that was the main reason why this one was the man of your dreams?" Nancy laughed.

"Hey, I like money. I like to have money, but I want my man to want _me_ more than he wants money," Bess laughed, "now, tell me…who's the hottie, the one standing next to Joe?"

Nancy gaped, "are you serious?"

"Yeah, what does he do?" Bess asked.

"He's a farmer," Nancy replied laughing, "not exactly your type."

"I don't know," Bess breathed, "Right now I'm thinking farmer is exactly my type. What's his name?"

"Chet," Nancy replied and looked at her friend. How to say this nicely without hurting her friend's feelings? "Bess, Chet is…well, a country boy. He's not used to how things…work. In the city," she clarified, "he doesn't just…I mean…from what I know of him Chet takes his dedication to his land very seriously."

Bess was silent for a moment, which surprised Nancy. She had expected an immediate, 'oh I know, but just _look_ at him! I could get him wearing Ralph Lauren in no time!' Instead, Bess stood silently for a moment and then turned to look at her friend, "I know I don't have the greatest reputation Nance, but…" her voice trailed off as she looked at Chet thoughtfully, "I don't really know what to say." She laughed nervously, "Could you introduce us?"

"Sure," Nancy shrugged; she had never seen Bess act so…normal about a guy. It was usually all 'he's the one' and 'he's the most handsome man ever,' it was strange to see her this way. "Come on," she took her friend's hand and led her over to the group.

She had just finished making introductions, watching in amazement as Bess blushed furiously at Chet, when her father came up beside her, "Dad!" she cried and threw her arms around him.

"Nancy," he smiled and hugged her close.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said, "wasn't it hard to get away in the middle of the week?"

"Being the top dog I can get away with things like that on occasion," Carson said and his eyes smiled down at her, the skin crinkling in the corners.

"I'm glad," she hugged him again and pulled away quickly, "and Uncle Bob and Uncle Chuck came too," she looked over at her uncles who were busy chatting with Fenton and Laura.

"Well, Uncle Bob was instrumental in your safe return, he wanted to be here," Carson said and pulled her into another hug, "it's hard having you as a daughter, the way you worry me all the time," he chuckled, "it keeps me young."

"That's kind of backwards; wouldn't it make you older, worrying about me all the time?" Nancy returned the smile.

"I've had a long time to make what you do work for me," Carson said with a wink, "I decided a long time ago that worrying about you was a good way to keep my heart healthy."

"Well in that case, I'll have to get into trouble more often," she teased.

Carson cleared his throat, "No, I don't think my heart could handle it if you went _looking_ for trouble."

"Okay, so the goal is: stay safe as much as possible, got it," Nancy joined in her father's laughter.

"Speaking of goals, was it your goal to give your father a heart attack by having Joe Hardy break the news to me that my little girl was moving in with a man?" Carson narrowed his eyes at his daughter.

"About that," Nancy said quickly, "I was planning on telling you myself, but I didn't know about this house or this party and…well, I would have told you in a…gentler way than Joe."

Suddenly Frank was beside her and she felt herself instantly relax. She wasn't overly worried about her father's reaction, but it felt good to know that she had someone on her side, unequivocally. No matter what, they were together and there for each other, it felt amazingly good to know that.

"Mr. Drew, sir," Frank said nodding his head and reached out to shake her father's hand. He reached down and grabbed Nancy's hand, "I'm really sorry about the way you found out about Nancy and me…moving in together. My brother didn't know that we hadn't gotten the chance to tell you yet."

It didn't escape Carson's notice that Frank hadn't blamed the situation on any one person. He hadn't blamed his brother and he had said, '_we_ hadn't gotten the chance to tell you yet'. Carson had a lot of respect for a person who didn't try to weasel his way out of situations by laying the blame with someone else.

He knew Frank Hardy, new the boy had an amazing amount of integrity and so some of his earlier consternation eased, "hm, I won't lie. It wasn't exactly pleasant hearing the news from a third party," he rubbed a hand over his chin, "but now that I've had time to think about it, I couldn't be happier for the two of you."

"Thanks dad," Nancy said with a smile.

"And now that I've seen this house you've chosen to settle down in, how could I be upset?" Carson smiled at Frank, "it couldn't be clearer how much you love my daughter and how serious you are about her. A man doesn't buy a house if he's not thinking serious thoughts."

"That's very true," Frank said without missing a beat. "Very true."

* * *

"Vanessa, come with me," Joe whispered in her ear and tugged her toward the back door of the house.

"Where are we going?" Vanessa asked with a small smile.

"Just come with me," Joe said again and pulled her into the house. He walked with her to the living room and gestured for her to have a seat. Vanessa sat cross legged in the empty room and Joe did too, their knees touching as they faced each other. "I have something to show you," he said pulling the envelope from his pocket, "my parents gave it to us, for the wedding."

"What?" Vanessa whispered and looked at the envelope in his hands, "I mean…what?"

Joe laughed softly, "Here, you open it." He pushed the envelope toward her but she refused to take it.

"No way, you open it," she shook her head quickly.

"But I want you to," Joe looked at her intently, trying to win her over with puppy dog eyes.

"No," Vanessa could barely breathe, "I can't. I can't do that, they're your parents. You open it, but you better open it soon or you're going to watch the love of your life explode right in front of your eyes."

Joe laughed, "Okay," he slid a finger under the flap and gently ripped the envelope open. Vanessa rested her hands on Joe's knees in front of her. He paused for dramatic effect and wiggled his eyebrows at Vanessa, "are you sure you want me to open this?"

"Joe!" Vanessa cried and slapped one of her hands down on Joe's knee. He laughed again before pulling the check out of the envelope.

He looked down and let out a low whistle, "wow."

"Wow what? Oh my gosh, we have to give the money back," Vanessa said without looking at the check, "we can't accept money from your parents no matter how much it is."

"Don't you want to see how much it's for before we give it back?" Joe asked, his voice barely in control, "Because I agree. I can't accept this from my parents."

Vanessa looked over at the check and stared at it upside down, completely surprised, her hands gripping Joe's knees almost painfully, "am I counting those zeros wrong?" she whispered. "You know, I can't really see them clearly because the check is upside down." Without a word Joe slowly turned the check so she could see it better, "oh," she said. "I was off by one…in the smaller direction. That's a lot of money."

"I know" Joe breathed and could see a down payment on a house of their own, "we've got to give this back. Fast."

"Absolutely," Vanessa agreed, "this is insane. No offense, but your parents must be crazy to give us this money."

"I know," Joe breathed, "they've gone off the deep end."

"Uh huh," was all Vanessa was capable of saying.

"Okay, let's go find my parents," Joe stood up quickly and reached to give Vanessa a hand, "you know if there were a few less zeros I'd consider keeping this."

Vanessa laughed, "yeah, me too."

"This is way too much," Joe said.

"Absolutely, way too much. I could never take that money from your parents," Vanessa nodded and grabbed Joe's hand, "but put it in your pocket so I don't have to look at it and be tempted."

Joe tried to laugh but it came out as more of a groan of longing. He slipped the check back into his pocket and they left the house to track down his crazy parents.

* * *


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Hey everyone! I know a few of you were curious as to how much money Fenton and Laura gave Joe and Vanessa, but I wasn't really planning on getting in to specifics. A lot of money might mean two different things to two different people and so I think it would be better to leave the amount up to every individual's imagination. :) As for how Fenton and Laura have the cash, well…they've been saving their pennies or something. :) Fenton is a highly sought after detective, I'm sure he's well paid. lol…besides, this is fan fiction-land!

Also, I'm not sure how far I'm going to take the Chet and Bess thing…it was just an idea that popped into my head randomly yesterday when I was writing the story and I thought…eh…let's see what happens with this. :)

Anyway, this is the last chapter everyone! Expect the first chapter of my new story…still tentatively titled (and so therefore probably for SURE titled…lol) "Four Times Too Many" in the next day or so. :)

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been reading, I really hope you enjoyed the ride. To everyone who reviewed thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words, they made my day!

**The Three Minute Deal**

**Chapter 32**

"Mom, Dad, can we talk to you for a second?" A slightly manic looking Joe pushed through the crowd with Vanessa to reach his parents.

"Sure honey, what's going on?" Laura asked as she and Fenton turned to face their son.

"We can't accept this," Joe thrust the check toward his father but neither one of his parent's moved as if to grab it. "I'm serious! Take this thing, it makes me nervous!"

"Nervous? How?" Laura was genuinely curious.

"I don't know, just take it back!" Joe replied.

"Please, please take it back," Vanessa pleaded, she was starting to fantasize about what that money could do for her and Joe…it was dangerous.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Fenton replied keeping his poker face firmly in place.

"Yes you do!" Joe cried and tried to put the check in his mother's hands. When neither one of them looked like they were going to give in Joe looked at Vanessa, "we have to do it."

"I know," Vanessa replied and nodded her head. Joe took the check in his hands and quickly ripped it in half, quarters and again.

"There!" Joe smiled triumphantly at his parents, "now we can't cash the check!"

Fenton smiled at Joe and reached out to shake his son's hand. Puzzled, Joe grabbed his father's hand without thinking and then stared down in shock as his father slipped yet another check in his hand, "sneaky," Joe muttered and opened the check. It was exactly like the last one.

"We figured you'd do something like that," Laura smiled.

"Your old man still has a few tricks up his sleeve," Fenton smiled and turned to his wife, "I think our work here is done, would you like to help me start the barbecue?"

"I would," Laura smiled and the two walked off toward the barbecue.

"Well," Joe finally managed to say.

"Yeah," Vanessa agreed, staring at the check in Joe's hand.

"We don't really have much of a choice, do we?" Joe asked her.

"Unless we want to risk offending your parents," Vanessa murmured.

They looked at each other for a moment before they each broke out in a wide grin, "Vanessa, do you know what this means?" Joe whispered.

"Yes," Vanessa said and threw her arms around Joe, "this is so wonderful."

"I know," Joe hugged Vanessa close with dreams of their future running wild through each of their heads.

* * *

"What's going on over there?" Frank asked later that evening as he and Nancy sat together at a table with Phil, Vanessa, Joe and Callie. Everyone looked to where he was pointing at Bess and Chet, who were laughing hysterically over some unknown joke.

"Whoa," Joe said slowly, "Chet and Bess?"

Nancy deliberately looked anywhere but at the group around her but Frank wasn't an idiot, "Nancy?" he asked slowly. "What's going on?"

"Bess wanted me to introduce them and so I did," Nancy shrugged indifferently. "They're just talking." At that exact moment Chet reached over and brushed a strand of Bess's hair behind her shoulder. His hand paused next to her face before he brushed his fingers briefly along her cheek.

"Just talking?" Phil narrowed his eyes, "yeah, okay."

"Chet and Bess?" Joe said again, "that'll never work out."

"How do you know?" Vanessa asked indignantly, "I think it's sweet."

Joe snorted, "You don't know Bess," Joe said, "she's Big City and Chet is Farm Boy. The whole universe is working against them."

"Oh, you're such a hopeless romantic," Vanessa said with a laugh and kissed his cheek. She turned to the group, "isn't he just so romantic? Always looking on the bright side of things, it's simply irresistible."

The group laughed at Joe and Vanessa's teasing but Frank kept one worried eye on his friend. Nancy noticed and leaned forward, "it's alright Frank, Joe is probably right. Nothing will come of it."

"Yeah," Frank murmured, "probably." But he had never seen his friend look quite that way before and when he looked at Bess, no matter how many times he had seen her 'in love' he had never seen her look that way either. It was more than a little concerning.

Soon Frank and Phil were embroiled in a serious conversation as to what technological upgrades they could make to the house. "Obviously, you're going to want to get a whole new system and set everything up wirelessly," Phil said seriously.

"Obviously," Frank nodded and he and Phil began to make the plans for the house's technological upgrade.

Nancy understood most of the words and had a vague understanding of what each of them did, but beyond that Nancy was completely lost. After listening for a moment she broke in with a laugh. Both Phil and Frank turned puzzled looks on her, "sorry," she said, "it's just…from the sounds of it I'm going to need an ID tag just to get in the front door."

Frank smiled, "don't worry honey, you won't even know it's there. You see, we plan on planting the chip right here behind your ear…" he showed her the place by laying a soft kiss on the skin there.

Nancy laughed, "as long as I don't know its there."

Fenton and Laura walked over to the group, "we're going to head home now," Laura said with a smile.

"Okay," Frank stood up. The party had started to wind down, with Michael and the other agents having left an hour ago, followed shortly after by Chief Collig and the others from the Bayport PD and then Carson had said his good byes and headed for his hotel with his brothers. They all planned to meet for dinner the following day. "I'll walk you guys out."

Frank walked beside his father and mother and the silence was comfortable. He walked them down the street where their car was parked and he reached down to open his mother's door. Laura stood there, not getting in and Frank frowned, "what?"

Laura looked at Fenton, "is this the right moment, do you think?"

Fenton's eyes twinkled, "probably."

Laura looked at her son, "I'm not giving this to you so that you feel any pressure to do something that you may not be ready for. I'm just giving it to you so you have it when the time is right." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the jewelry box holding her engagement ring. "I'd like you to have this, to use it when and where you like."

Frank couldn't stop staring at the box in his mother's hands. He knew the box and he knew the ring that lay contained inside it. He had grown up seeing it on his mother's competent hand and she had always told him that it would be his one day. She had always said, "When I see you with the woman who is right for you, you'll get it."

How amazing to know that his mother loved Nancy enough to give her the engagement ring she had worn for so many years.

"Mom…" Frank began having a hard time finding the words to express his gratitude.

"I know sweetie, take this and save it for the right moment," she placed the box in his hands and leaned up to place a kiss on his shocked cheek. Frank wrapped his arms around his mother and hugged her close.

"Thank you mom," he smiled.

"You're welcome," Laura said and pulled away to get in the car. Fenton smiled at his son and then climbed into the driver's seat.

Frank watched as his parents drove away before he walked slowly back to the house. He sat down on his front stoop and looked out over the quiet neighborhood in front of him. It was _his_ neighborhood now and the idea thrilled him. Over the years that would pass he and Nancy would become a part of this neighborhood, as would their kids. The idea sent racing thrills up and down his spine.

There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to propose to Nancy, but he knew that it wouldn't be tonight. Frank knew when too much was too much and he wanted to wait for the absolute right moment.

He was sure he'd be able to tell the right moment when it happened.

* * *

"Thank you so much for coming Callie," Nancy said with a smile and the two girls embraced, "I definitely want to have that girl's night before the wedding."

"Me too," Callie smiled.

"Maybe we'll have this place together in time and we can do it here," Nancy suggested.

"That would be a lot of fun," Callie said and looked at Frank, "but Frank would have to make himself scarce. This is a girl's night after all."

"Don't worry, Frank can crash with Joe. Joe gets lonely when I'm not there at night," Vanessa smiled and Joe just grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for coming Callie," Frank said and gave her a big hug, "it was really good to see you again."

"You too," Callie said returning the hug, "I'll call you later Vanessa and I'll be seeing you soon Nancy. Congratulations again!" she called and walked to her car.

Now it was only Joe, Vanessa, Nancy and Frank standing on their front porch and Frank and Nancy had their arms wrapped around each other.

"You two look good in front of that house," Vanessa said with a smile. She turned to look at Joe, "don't they look good?"

"Well, Nancy looks good but I've always thought Frank was lacking in the looks department," Joe smiled evilly at his brother.

"Your words, they cut me deep brother," Frank said with a laugh. They waved good-bye to the couple as they walked down the front walkway together.

Nancy sighed, "It's too bad we can't stay here tonight," she said wistfully.

"Who says we can't stay here tonight?" Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Because…" Nancy began, "there aren't any beds…or blankets…or clothes…or necessities." She paused when she saw Frank's gloating expression, "Are there?"

"Maybe," Frank said mysteriously. "You still haven't seen the upstairs."

Nancy's eyes grew wide, "I can't believe I've been in my new home," she smiled at the word, "for so many hours and I still haven't seen the upstairs!"

Frank laughed, "Come on then." They walked together up the stairs and Nancy ooh-ed and aah-ed at little details like the baseboards and the banister on the staircase.

"Frank! Look at this!" she stopped on the landing between the two sets of stairs, "a built in shelf! Oh, I have a really cool bowl that would look just great right here."

Frank smiled, "at this rate we won't make it upstairs until tomorrow," he teased.

Nancy laughed, "You're right. Let's go." The stairs led to a hallway. To the left they found a bathroom, two bedrooms and a room that would make a good office. To the right was the master bedroom, "I feel like I should close my eyes," Nancy murmured.

"Okay," Frank moved behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. He moved her into the bedroom and stood her right in front of what he had worked on the night before. He lifted his hands and Nancy gasped at what she saw.

"Frank! When did you do this?" Nancy asked.

"Last night," Frank responded and smiled, "I wanted us to spend our first night here."

Nancy looked around at the room in front of her. It was huge, with two big windows facing the street and the side of the house. Pushed against the wall underneath the side window was a large blow up air mattress that looked like an actual bed because Frank had covered it with sheets and blankets and pillows. Nancy laughed when she saw the side tables Frank had rigged next to the bed, "milk crates?" she asked laughing still.

"I know how much you liked those when I had them in my apartment, I thought I'd bring them here," Frank smiled. Nancy laid a hand on her heart and stood perfectly still. "Nancy?" Frank asked, growing concerned by her unmoving state, "are you alright?"

"I don't know what to do with all of this emotion I have inside of me," Nancy breathed. "I have no idea how to tell you how much I love you, because it's impossible. It's impossible to put into words. Everything you've done for me tonight…it tells me exactly how much you love me…but I have no way of showing _you_ how much I love you."

"You just did," Frank said and smiled. "Do you want to see the bathroom?"

"Oh yeah," Nancy smiled, "definitely." They walked across the room and Nancy paused at a door to the right, "is this the closet?" she asked.

"Yes," Frank replied. Nancy smiled and opened the door.

"A walk in closet! I've always wanted a walk in closet so I can see all of my clothes better and…wow. Is this for shoes?" Nancy pointed at the shelves.

"I guess so," Frank shrugged, "the closet doesn't interest me that much, let's check out the bathroom."

Nancy noticed the luggage in the corner of the closet and looked at Frank, "is that where my favorite jeans are?"

"Yep," Frank grinned.

"What about my sweater from college?" Nancy asked.

"You noticed that was missing too?" Frank asked in disbelief.

"Frank, I'm Nancy Drew," she said laughing, "It's like a requirement that I notice those kinds of things."

"Come on," Frank said laughing, "let's look at the bathroom!"

"I have a feeling that this is your favorite part of the house," Nancy smiled.

"It definitely ranks up there in the top three," Frank replied and led her through the bathroom door. Nancy stood in the doorway and stared at the beautiful bathroom in front of her. There were his and hers sinks, a shower with his and hers showerheads and a huge Jacuzzi bathtub.

"The previous owners were very fond of this bathroom," Frank explained as he started the bathtub before he walked around the room and lit a bunch of candles he had placed around the room. Soon the candles were giving off enough light that he was able to turn the overhead light off as he came to stand in front of Nancy. "This was one of the first things they remodeled and they didn't really hold back."

"I can see that," Nancy's eyes were dancing in the candlelight. "It doesn't sound like enough, but I love you so much."

"I love you too," Frank murmured.

"Are we taking a bath?" she asked with a slow smile.

"It's been a long day," Frank replied, "I need to relax."

"With the way I'm feeling toward you right now I don't think you're going to get much of a chance to relax," Nancy warned.

Frank laughed, "That's okay, I think I can live with that."

* * *

The next morning Vanessa knew it was time to confront Joe about what she knew. She waited until Joe excused himself to go shave before she followed him to the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat watching him shave the old fashioned way.

"Joe," she said finally.

"Yeah babe?" Joe replied as he scraped another line of bristles off his cheek. Despite his off hand tone Vanessa could see the far off look in Joe's eyes.

"Joe," she repeated, "why are you using a regular razor?"

Joe paused as pain flashed through his eyes. He tried for a smile, "I told you, the batteries on my…" as he was talking Vanessa pulled out his razor. He stopped talking, afraid that she was going to turn it on and bring on another panic attack.

"Joe, I know the batteries aren't dead on this thing," she set it on the counter, "and I know that if I turn it on you're going to be transported back to that warehouse," she whispered.

Joe didn't know what to say. There was silence for a moment before he quickly finished shaving and wiped his face clean on a towel. "I didn't want to scare you," he looked at her intently, "that's the only reason why I lied."

Vanessa nodded, "I can understand that, in a way." She stood up and raised a tentative hand to brush it against his short hair. "I want to help you with this," she said, "please let me."

Joe sighed, "Vanessa, short of holding my hand and telling me everything is going to be okay I don't know what you _can_ do."

"I'll do that," Vanessa said, "I'll hold your hand. Every morning, until you can move past this and every night when you think I don't notice that your nightmares wake you up. I'll hold your hand." She placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him softly. "I want to help you, but I can only help you if you'll let me."

Joe sighed and brought Vanessa into his arms. He had been wrong to keep this from her, he saw that now. He was still feeling anxious and he could still feel the dregs of his nightmare threatening to overwhelm him, but with Vanessa in his arms he could feel the joy he felt with her begin to take the nightmares place.

"It might take awhile," Joe said.

"That's okay," Vanessa replied, "I've already said yes to forever."

* * *

"This is one of the best mornings of my life," Nancy murmured.

"One of the best?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Nancy replied. "I have a few I consider to be the best."

"Do any involve me?" Frank ran a lazy finger down Nancy's arm.

"All of them involve you," she replied.

"Really?" there was genuine surprise in Frank's voice.

"Yes," Nancy replied.

"Do you mind telling me a few of them?" he asked.

"Well, one of them is the morning after you kissed me in the middle of the street," Nancy smiled.

"That's one of mine too," Frank agreed.

"Another is the first morning after we…you know," Nancy laughed.

"Ah yes, the night of…you know. One of mine too," Frank smiled.

"And then there's this morning," Nancy stretched, "this morning takes the cake, almost."

"Almost?" Frank asked, "What would make it rank number one?"

"Eggs," Nancy replied with a grin, "and bacon."

Frank frowned, "I don't think I remembered to pack breakfast."

"Let's see what's leftover from the barbecue," Nancy suggested and reached over Frank to grab his shirt off the floor. She slipped it on over her head and jumped out of bed. Frank pulled on his discarded pants and followed Nancy down the stairs.

"I don't know if potato salad is going to cut it for me," Frank said, "I might have to make a run to the store."

"No you won't," Nancy grinned and showed Frank the note she had found on the counter, written in his mother's elegant script.

"Breakfast is in the fridge. Preheat oven to 425 bake for 60 minutes," Frank read out loud and groaned, "my mom's breakfast casserole. He yanked open the fridge and pulled it out.

Nancy started the oven and they waited impatiently for the oven to reach the proper temperature, "your mom is so sweet."

"Yeah, she is," Frank murmured, "and her breakfast casserole is the best."

"This is enough to feed ten people," Nancy said eyeing the dish.

"I don't know about you but our recent activities have left me starving," Frank waggled his eyebrows suggestively as the oven beeped, indicating it was ready. Nancy slid the dish in and set the timer.

"Now how are we going to have the patience to wait sixty minutes?" Nancy asked.

"I've got a few ideas," Frank said and pulled Nancy to him.

Sixty-three minutes later Nancy and Frank stood across from each other at the kitchen island, each holding a plastic fork as they dug into the steamy casserole. "It's hot," Nancy said as the melted cheese burned the roof of her mouth, "but so good."

"Uhm-hm," Frank replied around a mouthful of the casserole.

"Now," Nancy said as she took a bite, "this is the perfect morning."

"Not quite, I could use some milk," Frank replied. Nancy laughed and turned to look in the fridge to see what they had to drink.

"We probably only have beer," she said and looked at the shelves. She laughed when she saw a carton of milk with another post it note on it, "For Frank," she read out loud. She turned to show Frank the carton and he smiled.

"My mom loves me," he reached for the carton and took a drink of it before passing it back to Nancy.

"You sure are spoiled," Nancy laughed when Frank nodded.

"Yep," Frank agreed and leaned forward to kiss Nancy's lips before she brought another forkful of the casserole to her lips.

"You taste like cheese," she laughed.

"So do you," Frank countered.

"We're the perfect pair," she flourished her fork before reaching down to take another bite. They really were the perfect pair, both of them able to work together and understand each other perfectly.

Nancy smiled at Frank over the casserole. She understood Frank perfectly alright and she knew that he was going to bide his time asking her to marry him, thinking that it was the right thing to do. She'd just have to take the reigns on that one herself.

If there was one thing about her and Frank, it was that they defied tradition. Buying a house before they were married and perhaps even, the girl proposing instead of the boy? Nancy smiled at the thought; it was something to think about.

Frank wouldn't know what hit him.

The End

**Thank you, thank you to everyone for reading! I hope to see you all over at my next story, but if not…thanks for taking the time out of your day to read what I write. If I do see you at the next story, I can't wait! The next story is going to be a completely different kind of adventure than what we're used to for the Hardy's and Nancy Drew. Thanks again for reading!**


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